Seven Days
by SilverShine
Summary: [Kakasaku] A mission gone awry lands two squeakyclean ninja in the Konoha Prison for a week. One cell. Seven Days. What could possibly happen? [Aside from the obvious throttling, of course. This is Kakashi and Sakura we’re talking about].
1. Prosecution

_A/N: I like to stay the hell away from Naruto fillers wherever possible, so I'll be sticking to what little information the manga has given about Konoha prisons… which is pretty much next to nothing. But to be honest, I'd rather use that than use anime filler material._

_Also, I am still working on Duty Before Honor. I just couldn't resist starting this one early, so please don't think that this means I'm giving up on the other one._

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter One

* * *

The Konoha Correctional Facility for Incurably Criminal Criminals wasn't all that bad, Kakashi thought. The food may have come from the one of those mysterious 'other' food groups, and you may have had to take showers with your back pressed against the wall, but really, all that was a reasonable price to pay for such tranquil solitude and panoramic views of untouched forest and sky. It was set a little way behind the Hokage Monument, steeped on a hill overlooking a hundred rolling fields and tumbling valleys. The little rows of outdoor cells flowed down the hill like steps, one after another, each with clean wooden walkways and red tiled roofs. 

Kakashi had been there a few times, mostly as ANBU to collect and deliver prisoners, and he'd always thought it would have been a fantastic place to build a house. You know… if it wasn't for all the rabid rapists, thieves and murderers who'd be living next door. But it would have been nice to be able to look out his window for once and see green stuff rather than other windows, cracked concrete and telephone wires.

It was a pleasant change to stand on a hillside, breathing fresh air and watching the sun set behind a wide and endless land.

The iron bars before him were a bit of a blemish though, but that was merely a small detail. "Isn't this nice?" he began pleasantly, glancing over his shoulder at the girl lying prone on her grubby bunk. "You can almost see the ocean from here. Sakura, sit up, you're going to miss the sunset."

"Leave. Me. Alone," she ground out dangerously into the foam mattress.

Kakashi shrugged. To each their own, he thought, leaning forward to hang his arms over the horizontal slat across the bars. "You can't pay for a view like this, you know," he remarked, tilting his head to watch the last slither of orange sun sink behind the mountains.

"_What _view?" Sakura hissed, sitting up just in time to have missed the spectacle. "There's nothing down there. Nothing! Not a single shop or house or road! What's so great about that?"

Kakashi turned his head to give her a ruminative stare. "You and I are very different people," he remarked sadly.

"Clearly!" she snapped. "You don't seem to have realized just yet that _we are in prison!_ We're prisoners!"

"Oh, I've realized." It was kind of hard to miss the big black bars and the lovely embroidery on his shirt stating he was _'Prisoner: 89662'_.

"Then you obviously don't care!" she said, throwing up her arms. "Here we are, incarcerated – which is entirely _your_ fault, by the way – and all you can think to do is go 'ooh, what a pretty sunset' like there's ever been a day it _hasn't_ set! What is wrong with you?"

"Hm," he sighed, turning completely to move back to his own bunk opposite hers. "There aren't enough hours in the day to cover that answer."

Growling, Sakura flopped back onto the bed, pressing her face into the threadbare blanket. "It's not like we're lacking in time here. God knows how long we're going to be stuck here."

Kakashi slid his eyes over her tormented figure, from the sight of her arms cradling her face and her hair swept in a mad pink halo over them, to the knees she crooked almost to her chest, sending uniformly neat wrinkles across her lightly starched uniform. "We're only going to be here seven days," he told her, feeling a little bad for her.

Sakura made a sound into her mattress like the squawk of a dying chicken. When she spoke, she sounded pained. "I guess… that's not too bad."

"Then we'll have our hearing and we won't have to see this cell ever again." Kakashi folded his arms. "Of course, whether they let us go free or just put us in solitary confinement is still up in the air, I guess."

There was a distinctive sniff from Sakura's side of the cell. "I think I might have to kill you," she said, with strangled calm.

"I wouldn't advise that," he answered evenly. "That would _definitely_ put you in solitary confinement."

"And away from you? The man who got me into this mess? Bring it on." She sat up, red faced and puffy eyed. "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? I was just following orders and now… oh _god_, I'm sharing a room with a pervert and a toilet with no exit."

"It's just a misunderstanding," Kakashi placated her. "Tsunade-sama will be back soon and she'll sort this out. We didn't do anything wrong-"

"Yet no one seems to particularly care, do they?" she said bitterly.

"Well… look on the bright side." He shrugged at her.

"Which is?" she demanded dubiously.

Kakashi stared at her. Then he stared at the floor, scratched his head and sucked his teeth. "Well… um…" He pointed past the bars of their cell. "We've got a nice view?"

It was a good thing they hadn't been allowed anything pointy in the cell, or Kakashi probably would have found it driven through his skull at that precise moment.

* * *

Sakura had known it would be a bad day when she woke up and answered the door to find Kakashi standing outside it. Sunday was her day off. The day when she would put her feet up, repaint her toenails and possibly have a nice long soak at the bathhouse down the road so she could catch up on all the latest gossip with all the other women. 

But that pleasant dream had ended abruptly the moment Kakashi had opened his mouth and said, "I need someone with strength for a mission. It's A-rank. I'll cut you thirty percent of the reward."

And being the thoughtful and generous girl that she was, Sakura replied, "Fifty."

"Thirty-five."

"Forty."

"Deal. Come on, we have to go now."

"B-But-" She pointed to the towel wrapped in a turban around her head. "I'm doing my hair."

Quite heartlessly, and without an ounce of consideration for the female condition, Kakashi reached out and plucked the towel from her head. He tossed it back into her apartment as furious wet ringlets of pink fell around her face. "It'll dry on the way."

The man clearly had no concept of hair care, although that much was pretty obvious judging by the state of his mop top.

Kakashi only spared her enough time to pack a single bag and change into her proper clothes before dragging her away. Granted, she mostly filled that bag with hair mousse, clips and a straightening iron, but she managed to pack in a few choice weapons as well. As they moved swiftly out of the village, Kakashi explained the situation.

"There's a hostage situation in one of the southern villages. There's a group of rogue ninja who have kidnapped a girl and sealed themselves into a cave. The girl's father is the one sending out the mission, and from what I've heard, so far no one has succeeded in breaking the seal on the door. That's where you come in. Also, in this kind of situation it wouldn't hurt to have a good medic on hand. It could very easily go wrong."

"Right, so basically I'm just your tool to get one-up on everyone else?" she pointed out.

"Basically."

"I feel so used."

But truthfully she was quite pleased. To be sought out especially because only she could do a job? That was the biggest ego trip ever. And what had she trained for if not to be able to help her friends? She'd become a kunoichi because she'd wanted a strong girl-power image for herself. She'd stayed a kunoichi for Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi.

That, and the money was fantastic.

They'd arrived at their destination half an hour later to be greeted by the sight of at least fifty other ninjas milling around the base of a sheer craggy cliff, all looking stumped. On the cliff face was a large patch of rock that was a different color than the surrounding stone, and on this patch were numerous scuffs and marks where people had obviously tried fruitlessly to attack it.

"I guess that's the sealed cave?" she said to Kakashi as they slowed their approach. The other ninja and kunoichi were looking around at their arrival and appearing distinctly unhappy about it. It was possible that they recognized Kakashi and had heard of his expertise, but it was just as likely that they knew more arrivals meant less of a chance of getting the reward and would have been unhappy whoever it was. Some even turned around and started to leave, knowing their chances were royally fucked.

"It's alright, Copy Ninja," one of the more burly ninjas called. "We've got everything under control. You aren't needed."

Kakashi glanced at the man in passing but acknowledged him no more than that, as if he hadn't spoken at all. The other ninja looked suitably scorched. But that was inevitable. Kakashi had a habit of walking into any kind of situation and taking it by the scruff of the neck. But even while he could commandeer respect with the simple click of a finger, he could just as easily melt into the background and be the unassuming bookworm in the corner. But this mission was too important to take a backseat now. A girl's life was at stake.

"There's the client," he said quietly to Sakura, nodding towards a rather dithery old man shouting at a group of Rock Ninjas. "He's a bit of an asshole, but be nice to him. He holds a lot of financial sway with the council, if you know what I mean. Old friends and all that jazz. If you piss him off he could put a serious blemish on your record."

"What makes you think I'd piss him off?" Sakura asked charily.

"No reason." But he said that a little too quickly to throw off her suspicion. "Go check out the seal while I talk to the father."

"M'kay."

She obediently trotted off in the direction of the sealed up cave that was now little more than a triangular patch of clean rock. "Excuse me, pardon me, thank you," she said quietly as she squeezed between bodies to get closer. They were all gathered in a semi-circle around the entrance, discussing ideas and strategies to break through it. At the very front were two ninjas trying to use earth-style jutsu to dig a way underneath the blockage. So far, they weren't having much luck.

"That's not going to work," she pointed out politely. "That's a quality sealing job. They won't have left a gap beneath the dirt."

The two working ninja gave her irritable glares. "Thanks for the advice, _kid_," one said, and then they both went back to work.

Irked, Sakura crossed her arms and scowled. She didn't have time to sit back and watch people waste precious minutes, so she started forward, pushed her way between the two men and reached out to touch the rocky wall.

"Hey!" the men chorused, instantly stopping their jutsu or else risk swallowing her up in dirt. They probably didn't care if that happened, but perhaps they didn't want witnesses.

"This wall is probably only six feet deep," she told them, tapping it gently with her ear against the seal. "I could probably bring it down in one or two hits if you'd like to step back?"

"For goodness sake," an older kunoichi growled. "This is a serious matter – go play around elsewhere, sweetie."

Kid? Sweetie? Play? What was she, ten? "Seriously," she began testily. "If you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you step back a little."

But she wasn't Kakashi, and she commanded about as much respect and dominance as a small weasel. They just stared at her incredulously and gestured for her to get out of the way.

Kakashi arrived to save her bacon. In tow was the kidnapped girl's father, but the moment the man laid eyes on Sakura, his face turned thunderous. "A little girl? Are you joking? Get her out of here and allow these people to save my daughter."

Sakura's eye twitched. Now she understood why Kakashi had warned her not to piss him off… it would be all too easy to loose her calm in the face of such prejudice. She had to forgive him though. His daughter _was _in danger.

But Kakashi was never one to get annoyed and he maintained his calm easily. "I would be willing to bet that Sakura has the best control of her chakra out of everyone here, including me," he said evenly. "Please give her a chance. She _can_ bring down the seal."

A few incredulous scoffs followed. Sakura held onto her temper admirably.

The man looked torn in frustration. Finally he exploded. "Fine! She can have one go and then she must move aside and let the professionals handle it."

Sakura couldn't help it. She opened her mouth to protest quite loudly that she _was _a professional, but Kakashi beat her to it, albeit more politely. "With all respect, Miyazaki-sama, Sakura is a professional too. She _is _a jonin after all."

"And one go is all I need, thanks," she added shortly. "Now if you'd all like to get the hell out of the way?"

This time they grudgingly complied, although not without a little ushering on Kakashi's part. Sakura waited until they were all at a safe distance before turning back to the sealed cave and feeling her way towards the direct center and weakest point in the wall.

Fixing her stance, she lined her fist up against the wall to take stock of the exact distance and pulled it back, inhaling slowly as she charged her chakra. In one fell burst she released it all – breath, chakra, fist – and ploughed her hand straight into the rock. Tendrils of cracks snaked out from the point of impact, creating a spider web effect. Then quite suddenly, everything shattered and the wall exploded outwards.

Bits of rock and dirt flew past Sakura's ears, coating her badly dried hair in a fine layer of dust. In seconds the wall was demolished and her hand flew to the shuriken holster on her leg, ready to deflect any weapons that came her way… only…

"It's all clear," she called, relaxing her stance. "There's a tunnel in the back of the cave."

Kakashi's hand landed on her shoulder and she turned to beam at him. "Nice," he told her lightly. "Not bad for a little girl, huh?"

"I have my uses," she replied sweetly. "I can get my arm behind the fridge too."

"Well?" the client shouted at the humbled ninja staring onward in shock. "My daughter is in there – go retrieve her _now_."

Sakura made to start forward, but Kakashi's hand on her shoulder tightened. "Hold on a minute," he told her quietly, but didn't explain. Even so, Sakura waited, knowing there had to be a good reason to be letting all the other ninja past and get a long head start.

Only when they were the last ones did he let her go. "Fools rush in…" he murmured gently, stuffing his hands into his pockets and waltzing inside. Sakura followed him cautiously.

"These rogues seem to have at least one guy amongst them who is incredibly adapt at manipulating rock, as you've just seen. Since we're effectively walking on his element, we are firmly in _their _territory. It would be wise to be careful where we put our feet," he explained as they moved. "And it would also be wise to remember that sometimes people use the same tricks more than once."

"What do you mean?" she asked, anxious at how sedate their pace was, considering the other shinobi were probably halfway down the tunnel by now. It was like some kind of mad rat race, only a girl's life was at stake if they didn't hurry.

"Come on, Sakura. Don't tell me you've forgotten about looking underneath the underneath. Always examine things twice and stay one step ahead." He stopped suddenly inside the tunnel, looking sideways at the curved wall beside them. Sakura followed his gaze, trying to figure out what he was looking at.

That was when she realized there was an oval patch of rock that was a different shade than that surrounding it. Realization twigged in an instant and she looked at Kakashi with a wild grin. "Kakashi-sensei, you're a genius!" she said, the way she'd used to say, "Sasuke-kun, you're so cool!"

"Eh." He shrugged indifferently, moving back. "Your turn."

Pulling her gloves tight, Sakura clenched her fingers into fists and charged her chakra for a second time. With a sharp cry of '_hah!_' she shattered the second fake wall and drove straight into the chamber on the other side.

Pandemonium broke loose.

There were six ninjas within the small chamber, Sakura counted that much in the following maelstrom of kunai and rocks. One reared up beside her, ready to blast her into next week with an earth based jutsu, and he may have done just that if Kakashi hadn't intervened and blasted the man into the next wall instead. "See to the girl," he shouted. "I'll deal with them."

Sakura didn't need telling twice. Weaving away from the fight, Sakura headed straight for the girl dressed in red lying supine on the floor. The entire cavern shook around her as she fell to her knees beside the girl and immediately checked for a pulse.

"_Shit_…" She cursed savagely and immediately moved her hands over the girls chest to begin pouring chakra into her system. But the girl's life was gone, and it was like pouring water into a bath with holes. Sakura moved her chakra to the heart, holding it and warming and trying to coax life back into it.

But it was useless. This girl had been dead for hours.

Slowly Sakura retracted her hands and hung her head. She brushed damp hair away from the girl's cold, pale cheek and sighed. She couldn't have been much older than Sakura herself, and it was clear that she'd been treated terribly before she'd died. There were bruises, crusted blood on her dress, and her skirt was hiked up indecently, exposing the tattered remains of underwear hanging around her left knee.

What kind of sick people would do this to another human being? Sakura had thought she'd seen it all in her short life, that there couldn't have been any lower to sink than Orochimaru's level of depravity. Yet people kept on surprising her…

Feeling wretched, Sakura ripped off the remains and straightened her skirt. The girl deserved to be found by the others with some sort of dignity. She looked around at Kakashi in time to see him deliver a fell strike to the sixth man's chest. Judging from the man's splutter and agonized expression and the way he keeled over quite abruptly, Sakura gathered Kakashi had hit him hard enough to stop his heart.

Sakura couldn't find it within her to feel sorry for him.

Kakashi turned to her, only slightly out of breath. "Is she…?"

Sakura shook her head. "Dead," she said flatly. "I can't help her."

"Shit," he sighed, turning away and wiping his forehead with his sleeve. He tugged down his hitai-ate and leant heavily against the wall near the gaping hole she'd made, surveying the seven dead bodies strewn across the room. "Shit," he said again, slightly more vehemently.

The noise of Kakashi's fight and Sakura's exploding wall technique had alerted the other ninja to the scene, and they quickly began arriving as Sakura gathered up the dead girl in her arms. She could feel the rigor mortis already setting in.

"What's going on?" she heard people asking. "Is that them?" "Are they dead?" "Fuck, I _told_ you we didn't stand a chance with the Copy Nin here!"

Then the person Sakura had been dreading to see most arrived; the girl's father.

The moment he saw his daughter, he snatched her out of Sakura's arms. "Yumi? Yumi, are you alright. Yumi…"

Sakura bit her lip and looked down. Watching someone suddenly realize the death of a loved one was one of the hardest things Sakura had ever seen. The desolation and pain that welled in the eyes… followed by… irrational anger and hatred? Sakura stepped back slightly as the man pinned her with a seething glare of pure contempt. "You did this…"

"What?" she said quietly, not quite understanding what he meant.

"You did this – you've killed her!"

Sakura's mouth dropped open in pure outrage. "_What?_" she gasped. "I've killed no one!"

Kakashi stepped in smoothly. "Miyazaki-sama, I'm so sorry for your loss, but Yumi had already passed away before we arrived. I'm sorry, but please don't blame Sakura. She had nothing to do with it."

"Of course she did," the man seethed, staring at her menacingly even as he spoke to Kakashi. "Her with her monstrous strength – she blew up the wall and crushed them all, didn't she! I saw that jutsu – it's dangerous! She killed them! She killed my Yumi!"

Kakashi just stared at the man, possibly disconcerted in the face of such misdirected conviction. "Uh… Sakura wouldn't use that jutsu if it posed any danger to your daughter. Look around you, the rubble is out in the tunnel, not here. The occupants weren't harmed by the explosion."

But the man was too far gone with grief. "You've killed her," he warbled, staggering away with the body of his daughter. "You've killed her and now she's gone… I'll make you pay for this. Dearly."

Sakura and Kakashi looked at each other. "Wow," she remarked in a small voice. "Um… I don't think he took that well at all."

"He's just in shock. I'm sure when he comes to his senses he'll be more rational," Kakashi told her reassuringly. "He can't take out his anger on the real killers so he's projecting it onto the nearest person. He'll come around, you'll see."

Only… Miyazaki-sama didn't.

By the time Sakura and Kakashi dragged themselves into the Hokage's office to make their report, Miyazaki had already called ahead to give _his _version of events – wherein both Kakashi and Sakura had quite ruthlessly ploughed up an entire mountain without a care for his daughter's life. He'd possibly told a few porkies about Sakura attempting to pillage the bodies while she was at it.

If it had been Tsunade sitting behind the Hokage's desk, she would have just rolled her eyes, brushed it off as a severe reaction to grief and dismissed the two bedraggled ninja as usual.

But Tsunade was away on a research trip in the Suna, and filling her shoes were the crabby cynical pair of old farts that made up the Elder Council. Sakura didn't particularly like them. For a start they were set in their ways and they recalled the Kyuubi's attack far too well to forgive Naruto. They'd had it in for that boy from day one, limiting his rights and missions at every turn. If it was up to them, they would have kicked Naruto out of the village long ago…

…either that or possibly executed him as a newborn.

And typically, because of her and Kakashi's close association with Naruto, the Elder's didn't hold much love for them either. When their old friend Miyazaki-sama accused them of cold-blooded murder and suggested they be locked up and the key thrown away… well, they took that to heart.

Sakura couldn't quite believe it as the old council woman before her passed out her sentence.

"Haruno Sakura, due to your gross negligence and disregard for proper standards of mission regulations and safety precautions, I am placing you in detention at Konoha's Correctional Facility for Incurably Criminal Criminals as of now, where you will be held for seven days until you hearing, where it will be decided what to do with you on a more permanent basis." Ignoring Sakura's jaw that was roughly in the same region as her feet, she turned to Kakashi. "Hatake Kakashi, due to your gross negligence and disregard-"

"Ditto. I got it," he said flatly, but remaining quite casual despite the circumstances.

"Do you understand the conditions of your arrest?" the old man asked slowly, wheezing deeply.

"I understand that we're being arrested for doing our jobs and attempting to save the life of an innocent girl who, might I add most respectfully, was already dead before we'd even received the mission," Kakashi said pleasantly. "If that is what we're being arrested for, then yes, we understand perfectly. A prison sentence seems entirely fair. Thank you. You're very kind and fair, and not at all biased or bigoted at all, I'm sure."

The old woman leant forward, dull eyes narrowed. "Insubordination will only work against you, child," she told him.

"I do apologize, but I'm a little short on ideas since subordination seems to be working against me too and I appear to be going to prison for doing a good job. Let's make even less fucking sense, shall we? I know, Sakura, fetch me a cat, I feel like waxing something."

Kakashi's tone was still light and pleasant, but even Sakura could tell he was quite livid. For him to be speaking to the Elders like this…? The man must have been seriously pissed off. Or just incredibly drunk.

"Keep digging, Copy Ninja." The old woman glowered at him.

"With a flamingo no less? They're sort of spade-shaped, I suppose."

The old man gestured to the two ANBU standing by the door. "Take them away. They refuse to be reasonable."

"No, if I was being unreasonable I would have made a comment about the old people smell in here. Fortunately, I'm slightly more tactful than that."

"Take them away!"

Sakura shook her head despairingly as one ANBU guard took her by the arm and began leading her away out of the door after Kakashi. She might have kicked her former sensei if she hadn't been restrained. "What the hell were you thinking?" she hissed at him. "Talking to them like that? There's no way they'll let you get away with that! Do you have _any_ idea how much trouble we're in!"

"The council aren't that powerful, Sakura," he said dully, sounding annoyed. "As soon as Tsunade comes back she'll put them back in their hutch."

"We're going to prison!" she shrieked at him, panicking.

"No, we're in detention. That's different." He paused slightly before adding, "That's one floor up from the prison."

They were split up after that, which might have been a good thing, because Sakura might have actually committed a real murder if she'd stayed much longer with Kakashi.

Everything unraveled at a dizzying pace after that. She was taken into the bowels of the Hokage tower and given a teleportation scroll. In the blink of an eye she found herself in a back room at the Konoha prison where she was handed over to a chunin prison guard who took her into a dark, cold room, gave her a set of plain gray clothes and told to take off everything and get changed.

"If you're not going to leave, could you at least turn around?" she asked testily.

He shook his head.

Sakura felt sick as she began stripping off her clothes and weapons. She got down to the bandages wrapping her breasts and her panties and began reaching for the pale gray shirt when the guard stopped her. "Everything," he told her bluntly. "You have to remove everything."

She glowered at him ferociously. "I know your sort," she grumbled. "Just a sick pervert…"

Nevertheless she yanked the bandages off and threw her panties on top of her pile of clothes and hurriedly pulled on her assigned uniform. It was uncomfortable and slightly too big as well as being far too itchy and stiff. The pants only came down to her calves and didn't appear to come with any underwear. Sakura didn't know whether or not that was a good thing. Prison-issue panties were bound to be one of those unspeakable crimes against humanity.

Barefoot, she was taken to another room where all her belongings were catalogued and placed into neat little plastic bags.

"One container of hair clips and other accessories," one of the guards said, jotting it down on a clipboard. "One tube of lip gloss; cherry flavored. One packet of throat lozenges; also cherry flavored. One hair straightening iron-"

"I'll be needing that." Sakura reached for it.

"No you won't." It was moved out of her reach. "No personal effects are allowed in the cell with prisoners."

It all sounded like one hilarious joke, Sakura almost laughed. It was ridiculous that she was going to jail. She wasn't that kind of girl! She'd always made an effort to be good and do the right thing, and now here she was, wrongfully accused of _murder_ of all things and about to come to spend the night on a prison bunk.

It was inconceivable. She still didn't quite understand what was going on. This had to be some kind of horrible dream that she would wake up from in a minute. Maybe if she just kept pinching herself she'd suddenly wake up, realize it was Sunday morning and that she had a whole day of relaxation ahead of her. If Kakashi came banging on her door, asking for her help on a mission, she would shut the door in his face and turn up her radio.

But Sakura just wasn't waking up.

It was all horribly real.

When the guards had finally finished dissecting her belongings and labeling her spare tampons, one of them took her by the arm and started leading her away down a corridor.

"You've come at a bad time," he told her quite jovially, as if she was a customer rather than a prisoner. "We're up to the gills in inmates and we don't have any spare cells, so you'll have to share."

"With who?" Sakura asked with trepidation.

"With the guy you came in with. Don't worry, we wouldn't dream of sticking you with a random prisoner. We'd rather put you with the women, but there aren't any in the ground-level detention zone."

"I suppose that should make me feel special," she commented cynically.

"Not especially."

She was placed in a cell 3R, third row down, eighteenth cell across. The walk along the boarded paths hadn't been much fun, not with every man in every cell seeing her and making some kind of inappropriate comment or noise. Sakura ignored it to the best of her ability, but she couldn't help but feel slightly concerned that her neighbors all seemed to want her to 'get her tits out'.

Cell 3R was empty when she arrived, and as soon the bars clanged shut after her and the lock snapped shut, Sakura sat down on the closest bunk and hugged her knees. The view was quite depressing, she felt. Not a sign of life to be seen for miles, even though she knew that in the other direction lay Konoha in its entirety.

Oh god, what would Ino say when she found out about this? What about Naruto and Sasuke?

"This isn't happening…" she whispered, falling onto her side, still hugging her knees.

A few minutes later she heard footsteps again and sat up sharply. The same guard who'd brought her had now brought someone else. Someone she didn't recognize. Her heart leapt into her chest when the strange prisoner was ushered into the cell with her and the bars locked in his wake. Sakura almost attempted to leap through the gaps in the bars to yell "Hey! I thought you said I would be sharing with Hatake Kakashi!"

Then her fellow prisoner gave a deep sigh and sat down on the opposite bunk, knees spread and shoulders slouched. A small pout played on his lips. "Seriously, I thought the strip-search was a bit much," he said, sounding remarkably like Kakashi. "I hope they treated you a little better."

Sakura stared, wide-eyed. "Kakashi… sensei…?"

The man before her blinked at her slowly with unmistakably familiar eyes – one the color of coal, the other pressed shut beneath a long pink scar. She didn't recognize the nose. Or the existence of cheekbones. The lips were new. As was the light stubble along the defined jaw line.

Slowly, he turned to examine the wall behind him, trying to figure out what she was staring at. Perturbed, he looked back at her. "What?" he asked.

"Uh… nothing…" She looked away quickly and rubbed a hand through her hair. She didn't want to make a big fuss, as it clearly wasn't something he thought a great deal of. She'd always known that someday she would see his face… but she hadn't quite realized it would happen because prison uniform didn't come with attached masks.

Kakashi had quite a nice face, she decided. Strong, even features arranged in an eye-pleasing way. He looked oddly kind and sensitive without a mask though, rather like a mild-mannered librarian rather than one of Konoha's top shinobi. Give him a pair of spectacles and a book (with decent, educational content) and he'd look every bit like a substitute teacher. His eyebrows had a natural tilt, making him look ever so slightly hangdog… although that could have just been because of their situation. Sakura probably looked a little hangdog too.

But no wonder he wore a mask. He looked like he was about to start writing angsty poetry at any given moment.

"Should have turned the lights off when I left this morning," he sighed suddenly. "That's gonna cost me."

Sakura looked at his crestfallen face and chewed her cheek. "We could be in here for years," she told him, eyeballing the lower half of his face quite shamelessly while he was looking away. "If our hearing goes badly..."

He sucked his teeth. "It won't. And if it doesn't, Tsunade-sama will get us out."

"Can she do that?" Sakura asked.

"I… don't know."

"That's so comforting, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Heaving a low groan, Sakura buried her face into her lump of foam that was her new pillow. "I can't believe it… I was always such a good girl… why am I the one who ends up in prison? I always thought it would be Ino in here, not me."

"It's only temporary detention," he reminded her.

"It's a permanent blemish on my permanent record!" she bit back.

"Think of it as unexpected street cred," he said, shrugging. A light smile played dreamily on his lips that had her momentarily entranced.

"What do I need street cred for?" She turned her scowl back into her mattress.

"Everyone could do with a little street cred," he told her. "Homie."

"Stop it."

"Wassup, dogg?"

"Stop it now!"

"Pimping weather, huh?" He snapped his fingers. "Ow…"

Sakura moaned in distress. "I can't take this for seven days. I'm going to go insane!"

"Think how I feel," he said, sucking his knuckle. "They confiscated Icha Icha."

"Kakashi-sensei, you're the reason I'm in this prison cell right now. Even the slightest suffering on your behalf brings mindless joy to my heart," she told him flatly.

"And here I thought you were the nice one," he sighed mournfully

"Mistake."

"Obviously."

They lapsed into silence. If they had been anywhere else, Sakura would have walked off in a strop, slept on it, and then forgiven him the following morning. As it was, she couldn't escape his presence, and her anger and fear festered painfully in her chest. Kakashi may have been taking this in his stride, but she didn't have his natural confidence and ease. He knew something unjustified had taken place and he was certain it would all be sorted by simply waiting it out. Sakura felt the matter needed to be taken into hand and sorted out manually… only it was going to be hard to do that from within a prison cell.

She'd ask to speak to Naruto the next time the guard came along. He might not be able to do anything, but surely he'd find someone who could?

Kakashi interrupted her racing mind. "I'm sorry, Sakura," he said quietly.

An honest, heart-felt apology.

Damn, it was hard to stay mad when he used that kind of tone. But Sakura didn't feel quite ready to forgive him, so she pulled the thin blanket over her head and ignored him.

It was going to be an incredibly long week.

* * *

TBC

* * *


	2. Day One

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Two

Day One

* * *

The night was rough. 

It was difficult sleeping on a damp-smelling mattress with an empty stomach and a full mind – and Kakashi's chainsaw-like snores probably didn't help matters. The lack of a clock or watch had also driven Sakura partially insane. Unable to tell the time or guess how many hours were left until daybreak had to be some new form of torture. So in between kicking Kakashi in the leg to try and keep the volume of his snores to a minimum, she was smashing her head against her musty foam pillow and weeping in sheer frustration.

By the time the sky began to lighten, Sakura was too exhausted to even move. Kakashi eventually stopped snoring as his level of sleep changed, and Sakura seized the brief reprieve to catch some shuteye.

It seemed that no sooner had she nodded off than the breakfast call woke her up.

"Breakfast!" called an irritatingly cheerful guard as he wheeled a trolley past. He dumped two bowls of what looked like liquidated sawdust quite unceremoniously through the bars of her cell before moving off to the next one.

"Wait!" Sakura sleepily staggered to her feet and pressed her face to the bars. "What about my morning wash? I need to wash my teeth and brush my face and when do I get my straightening iron back?"

"All male prisoners have cell breaks between ten and eleven o'clock. Women; between eleven and twelve. You'll have to wait till eleven if you want to use the washroom, miss." The guard continued on his way.

Sakura sunk back onto her bed and gave her breakfast a look of pure revulsion. She may have been starving, but she would no more eat that crap than she would her own shoe. Had she had her shoes, she may have started gnawing on them.

Crawling back under her blanket, Sakura heaved a weary sigh. She glanced across at Kakashi's bunk, trying to see if he was awake yet… but instead she found herself blinking at an empty bed.

"Good morning."

Sakura, skin crawling in dread, looked up at the ceiling. Beaming down at her was her former sensei, looking completely mellowed out in his upside-down meditative pose. His hair hung straight down in a strange array of white, which (if this was a regular morning routine) explained a lot about its frequent gravity-defying style.

"I don't see what's so good about it," she grumbled, rolling over to pull the blanket over her head. "And I'm not talking to you."

"Mm?"

"You snore. _Horribly. _God, I almost hung myself just to get away from you."

"A lot of people say that," he intoned absently. "Did it keep you up?"

"I think it kept the whole cellblock up," she retorted.

"Sorry about that," he said with a distinct lack of sincerity. He stretched his arms down towards the floor and cracking his shoulders with a sigh. "I don't normally snore. Must be because they took my mask."

Sakura tugged the blanket down a little to watch Kakashi stick his hands to the ceiling with chakra and gracefully lower himself back to his bunk. "You normally sleep in your mask?" she asked cautiously, because the topic of Kakashi's Mask was pretty much a taboo. It was like sex; everyone thought about it, but you didn't talk about it quite so openly.

Kakashi just shrugged. "Sure." Then he smiled. "Keeps my nose warm."

Well… Sakura _supposed_ that was a reason. Albeit not a very good one.

"You're not going to eat your breakfast?" he asked as he picked up one of the gently steaming bowls of sludge. "You didn't eat supper either."

"I'll be sick if I eat that stuff," she said, staring resolutely at the blank gray wall.

"You'll be even sicker if you eat nothing at all," he pointed out.

Sakura said nothing, even though she knew he was right. But instead of acknowledging that, she pulled the blanket back over her head and tried to will herself into a coma.

Kakashi didn't bother her again as he was busy trying his best to force down a breakfast that had probably been made out of gathered leftovers of the previous week's breakfasts. Like Sakura he had no real inclination ingest something that looked so remarkable like dog vomit, but he had to set a good example, and it would have been a little hypocritical to turn his nose up after what he'd just said.

Even so, after only a few mouthfuls his face was beginning to contort in the most interesting ways and he discreetly reached through the bars to tip the remaining contents into the gutter. A quick glance over his shoulder to check Sakura hadn't seen and he felt free to recline back on his hands self-righteously.

Now what to do?

There really was very little entertainment to be had in a prison cell. If he'd been allowed to keep Icha Icha Exchange, Kakashi might've been able to occupy himself for the full seven days without pause. But as it was he had to amuse himself by tickling Sakura's bare foot and watching it twitch sporadically in her sleep. But this quickly grew old when it soon became apparent that she would occasional flail her leg and severely crack whatever she kicked. Kakashi didn't like to think what might've happened if she got a lucky strike on his hand.

Boredom was a difficult state of being, but Kakashi had endured worse. With a sigh, he got back on his bunk, propped his hands behind his head and let his mind wander.

It was a small eternity before ten o'clock rolled around and the sound of clanging cell gates and keys could be heard. Kakashi sat up and scratched the back of his neck tiredly while he waited for the guard to reach their cell.

"Prisoner eight-nine-six-six-two," said the guard, announcing his arrival with a jangle of keys. "You're free to… whoa…"

The guard stopped dead upon seeing Kakashi. Kakashi stiffened a little as well.

It was Shikamaru.

"Kakashi-sensei?" His hand hesitated to put the key in the lock. "What are you doing in there?" He looked around and lowered his voice. "Is this some kind of undercover job?"

If only.

"No… I've been incarcerated," he said, then corrected himself as he gestured to the snoozing Sakura. "_We've_ been incarcerated."

"Unbelievable," Shikamaru muttered, looking annoyed. "What did you do?"

"Absolutely nothing," he answered truthfully. "May I ask why you're working here?"

"Oh, me?" Shikamaru shrugged. "Working with children proved a little too troublesome. I figured working with convicted felons would be a little easier."

"And is it?"

"Well, fewer punch-ups at least." Shikamaru's eyes traveled to the sleeping girl. "Is that Sakura?"

"Mm." Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to look at said girl with her arms lolling over the edge of her bunk and her hair in a fantastic mess.

Shikamaru sighed. "And here's me without my camera…" he muttered, before shaking his head and twisting the key in the lock. He stepped back as he wrenched the gate open. "Anyway, you have an hour of non-stop fun ahead of you. Washroom is that way. Game room is that way. And the gym is behind the washhouse. Any questions?"

"There isn't a bookshop around here, is there?" Kakashi asked vaguely.

"'Fraid not." Shikamaru shrugged. "But if there's anything they confiscated that you want back… you know… I can get it for you. You usually only get your stuff back for good behavior, but I'm guessing you won't be acting up on us, right?"

"I'll do my best." For Icha Icha, Kakashi would do anything.

"I'll see what I can do," Shikamaru said, nodding before moving to lock the cell behind Kakashi, presumably to keep Sakura in. "Wait," he said suddenly, turning back to Kakashi. "There's something different about you. I can't put my finger on it."

Kakashi stared at the younger man as his face was scrutinized quite openly. "Really?" he raised his eyebrows idly.

"Yeah…" Shikamaru frowned. "Have you done something with your hair?"

"Yep." He recalled combing it at some point last year.

"That's probably it then," Shikamaru shrugged and went on his way, leaving Kakashi to head off to the washhouse for a much-needed scrub.

Now, Kakashi had never at any point in his life felt particularly short or skinny (at least not since he was fifteen when his long overdue growth spurt had finally caught up with him). At the age of thirty_... something_, and at a grand height of nearly six feet, it was rare that Hatake Kakashi ever had to crane his neck to look someone in the eye.

But it seemed that one of the requirements of being a convict meant that you had to be six-four or over and _at least_ two hundred pounds.

It wasn't that he felt intimidated by all the rather large men bumping shoulders with him as they all filed into the wash house, guided by ushering guards. Oh, no. But he still didn't relish the thought of frolicking around naked in the showers with them. He felt a bit like that pale, nerdy pipsqueak who'd walked into the jocks' changing rooms by mistake. So many men with deep tans and bulging muscles… the sheer amount of testosterone permeating the air alone was enough to give _anyone_ an inferiority complex.

After stripping off his clothes on the benches provided and taking up a towel, Kakashi trudged after the line of men heading into the showers. When in doubt, do as others do – or so the old Shinobi lore went.

Just as he'd chosen a faucet and was about to turn the water on though, a rather large body shunted him aside.

"This is my spot," grunted the man who'd shoved him, promptly turning on the water for himself.

Kakashi was slightly too disconcerted to respond effectively. _Way too much naked contact there, _he thought, shuddering.

But there wasn't any point in raising a fuss. It would only create an opportunity for a fight, and the last thing Kakashi needed right now was a scrap in a stupid little detention facility to add to the list of reasons why the Elder's should keep him locked up. Although there probably wasn't much more he could do to sink lower in their eyes after what he'd said to them the previous day.

Still. He didn't regret one word. He was only sorry he hadn't had time to vocalize the rest of the things he'd been dying to say to them since he was seventeen and they'd casually mentioned what a disgrace his father had been to the village and how they hoped _he _would do better. 'Bigoted Old Farts' was only the nicest way to describe them in Kakashi's eyes.

Selecting another faucet that didn't appear to have anyone's name on it, Kakashi got down to business, hoping to finish up as quickly as possible. The soap was rough and smelt worse than he did already, but it was better than nothing, just as long as he didn't drop it or anything…

"Hey, you!"

Kakashi ignored the shout, hoping that it wasn't aimed at him. But really that was just asking for too much leniency from the powers that be.

"You – you're the guy who put me in here!"

Crap...

Two large, wet hands landed on Kakashi's shoulders and twisted him around sharply. Once again, this was far too much contact for two naked men, and Kakashi stepped back sharply. Frankly, he wasn't a fan of any kind of physically contact even when fully dressed, and this guy was seriously invading his personal space. With a patient sigh, he looked at the taller and far more irate man. "I'm sorry, can I help you?" he asked politely, pushing wet hair out of his eyes – though keeping the sharingan firmly shut.

"I'd know that face anywhere," the man seethed. "You're the man who put me in here! Hatake!"

Kakashi looked the man up and down. "Um… what?" He didn't recognize the man at all, which was odd, because he was really quite distinctive with his black and white streaky hair and wild beard.

"Don't pretend you've forgotten," the man seethed. "You may have cut your hair and gotten your face cut up, Sakumo, but I know it's you. Who could mistake the White Fang of Konoha!"

Kakashi stared at him. "You could, clearly," he pointed out flatly. "Because I'm not him. The man you're referring to died nearly thirty years ago. Just how long have you been in here?"

"About… thirty years?"

"Well, there you go," Kakashi said. "Can I get back to my shower now or is there anyone else I remind you of?"

"If you're not Sakumo, then you must be the younger one. What was his name… Hatake Kakashi?" The large convict scrutinized Kakashi's face.

Kakashi gave nothing away. "Hatake Arashi, surely?"

"You him?"

"Could be. Why?"

"I'd like you to give your father a message for me."

Nothing good had ever come of a sentence like that. Kakashi decided his shower was over. "Certainly, let me just go get a pen and I'll-"

The next moment, he was seeing stars.

* * *

Sakura awakened to the sound of a lot of angry, distant shouting and the rattle of bars as the front of her cell swung open. "Whuzzat…?" she mumbled, sitting up with her hair stuck mainly on one side. Through muzzy eyes she saw the distinct figure of her former teacher being slung onto his bunk by two guards. 

She snapped awake instantly as the cell door shut with a loud bang. Turning to Kakashi, her gaze was thunderous. "What did you do?" she demanded.

Then she saw his face. "What did you do to your nose?" she gasped in a more sympathetic tone. She threw off her blanket and dove towards her slightly woozy looking cellmate to help him sit up against the wall. There was blood tracking all the way down his face and throat, stemming from his nose. "What happened?" she asked, noticing how wet he was. "Oh my god, they didn't gang rape you in the shower did they?"

"Sakura, you watch too many prison movies," he told her, sounding incredible nasal. "I want a drink of water…"

"Keep still," she ordered. "I think you've broken your nose."

"Ah."

Sakura summoned chakra to her hand and held it close to his face. "What happened?" she asked, concentrating on fixing the misaligned bones.

"I slipped," he told her shiftily.

"Was that before or after someone punched you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sort of in between, actually…"

Sakura sighed deeply. "Trust you, Kakashi-sensei," she said softly. "You've only been here a day and already you got in a fight. I'm surprised you got hit though. Normally you're very good at ducking."

"Well, I might've seen it coming if it had actually come from the guy who was picking the fight. I think one of his friends caught me from the side." Kakashi wrinkled his nose experimentally.

"Keep _still_," she snapped. "So you got flattened by someone's prison bitch? I can't wait to tell Naruto and Sasuke."

"Oh, don't worry. I kicked their asses. You hear that?" he lifted a finger, indicating she should listen. The shouting was still going on in the distance, like a pack of hounds baying for blood. "That is the sound of fifty very bruised egos. They just got lucky with that first punch - there were a lot of disadvantages for me in there. Confined space, slippery floor, distracting naked flesh – ow."

"All better." Sakura tapped a finger against his tender nose with a dimpled smile and went to soak a corner of his blanket under the cold water tap in the corner. She returned to start wiping the dried blood from his face. "You have to be more careful," she told him sternly. "If you get beaten to death, who am I supposed to talk to for the rest of the week?"

"I'm sure you'd manage."

Sakura grinned at him. "So what was that guy picking a fight over?"

"Oh, you know." Kakashi closed his eyes and relaxed under the soothing stroke of the damp cloth. "They were just jealous because I have my own personal nurse living with me."

"Yeah, well you're on your own next time," she told him bluntly. "If you break your nose again, your 'own personal nurse' is not fixing it, no matter how pretty it may be."

Kakashi's right eye slid open to regard her with a curious frown. Sakura's face turned a little pink as she focused mulishly on her task, trying not to let him know it had been a slip of the tongue. She just hoped he would think it was a joke. But his stare was getting a little unnerving. "What?" she barked.

Kakashi shrugged. "I'll try not to break it again if it means that much to you."

Sakura was about to tell him that he would be lucky if it wasn't _her _breaking his nose next time when a guard arrived outside the cell. "Prisoner eight-nine-six-six-four," he reeled off. "You have an hour recess."

_Oh, thank god! _Sakura shot to her feet. "Great. Wonderful. Bye, Kakashi-sensei!"

* * *

Never, in Sakura's opinion, had a day ever passed slower than that first day in prison. After lunch was served, she and Kakashi had a little fun trying to guess exactly what sort of meat had been served until eventually they decided it was probably bread. After that they promptly ran out of things to talk about and passed through hours of silence. 

"I'm so bored," she would eventually drawl into the lackadaisical mood.

This would be returned with a, "You think _you're_ bored," from Kakashi.

Another bout of silence would float by as Sakura settled down on her bunk to watch a spider spin a complex web in the gap between her mattress and the wall. Then Kakashi would sigh and start rubbing his fingers over his rough jaw. "I need a shave."

"You think _you_ need a shave," Sakura retorted, sticking her leg in the air pointedly.

The silence that followed this revelation was slightly more awkward than those previous, though Sakura didn't seem to notice.

"What do you think Naruto's doing right now?" she wondered aloud.

Kakashi folded his arms and closed his eyes meditatively. "Something involving ramen."

Sakura clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Typical. Don't you have even just a little bit of faith in Naruto to do something other than eat ramen all the time? He's human too, you know. He could be doing anything – like his laundry, or he's on a mission, or gardening, or-"

"Or eating ramen?" Kakashi interjected.

Sakura gave up. "Oh, alright, he's probably eating ramen."

She smashed her face into the mattress in sheer boredom as she heard Kakashi give a wide, prolonged yawn. After a moment she sat up at scrutinized the bars at the front of the cell, lips held in a thoughtful pout. She glanced at Kakashi. "I bet you I could fit through those bars."

Kakashi's dark eye slid open to regard her quietly, then shifted his gaze to the bars. He gave a soft 'humph' before shutting that same eye and leaning his head back against the wall. "Sure."

"I bet I could," she said, feeling daring.

"And what would we bet?" Kakashi pointed out with a tilted eyebrow. "I'm a little strapped for cash at the moment, to be honest."

Sakura chewed her lip. "Breakfast. I'll bet you my breakfast."

"I don't want your breakfast," Kakashi said bluntly. "I don't even want _my _breakfast."

"Fine. Then whoever loses the bet has to eat both breakfasts," she declared.

Kakashi opened both eyes this time to look at her more alertly. After a moment he smiled placidly and cocked his head. "Alright. Go for it."

But Sakura wasn't so sure now. She had the sneaking suspicion that he'd just analyzed the probability of her body fitting through those bars with the sharingan and had already worked out the measurements. However, Sakura was a ninja of her word so she couldn't back out now.

Crawling off her bunk, she slipped over to the bars and easily threaded an arm and leg through. Then she met difficulties…

Kakashi's smile only widened to see her struggles and leant forward with his chin resting in his palm. "And what do you plan to do with your newfound freedom?" he enquired, watching her vainly trying to fit her head through the bars.

"Go home, of course," she said, as if it was obvious. "And have a nice long nap on my nice comfy mattress, far away from men who snore like they have a kunai up their nose."

"You realize that as soon as you break out, they'll send people round to pick you up and bring you back?" Kakashi said slowly. "And then they'll stick you underground and pump you with enough drugs to make you forget how to string a sentence together, let alone devise an escape plan. So unless you plan on running away from Konoha for good, there's no point in trying to get out."

Sakura scowled thoughtfully at the distant, misty horizon, stilling her attempts to wriggle through the bars. Then suddenly she brightened. "Yeah, let's do that." She looked back at him, full of mischief. "Let's run away together, like, over the border or something. We could seek sanctuary with the Kazekage or something until the Hokage returns."

"And have to dodge all the tracker-nin along the way? No, thank you." Kakashi stretched and leaned back with his hands behind his head. "Why would I want to do that when I can stay here with free catering, bathing and shelter."

Sakura's frown returned. "You think this is some kind of vacation, don't you?"

"If you let it get to you, you'd only be letting the Elders win," he pointed out. "Enjoy yourself. You have a week off from work."

Sakura clung to the bars miserably. "When I have a week off work, I go shopping. A lot. Man, I miss shopping."

"…you've only been here a day."

"And it's _killing me_," she hissed. "I need out! Now!"

Her efforts to squeeze her way to freedom were renewed. If only the bars were a little wider… if only her hips were a little slimmer…!

Without even thinking she began to summon chakra to the muscles in her arms, preparing to release them on the unsuspecting iron slats. But Kakashi must have sensed her intentions before she even realized them, and quickly snapped at her. "Don't even think about it."

Sakura's chakra dispersed with a guilty whoosh. She sagged brokenly against the bars. "It's not fair…" she moaned, despairingly.

"Life rarely is," he said, shrugging. "But there's not point in trying to escape, Sakura. You'd be breaking the honor system. We're honor bound not to use any kind of jutsu while we're in here."

"Screw the honor system," she wailed. "I want my straightening iron!"

A shadow fell across her and she squinted up at the guard standing directly in front of her, well aware that she was currently half-in and half-out of her cell. "Yo, Sakura."

"Hey, Shikamaru…" she returned dully. She seemed to recall Ino mentioning his trial change in occupation. "Be a sweetheart and spring a girl loose, would you?"

He shook his head. "I wish I could," she said, sounding like he didn't particularly care one way or another. "But I did manage to get some of your stuff out the lockers." He dropped two plastic bags into the cell.

Sakura pulled back to pick them up curiously. "My accessories!" she cried happily. "I could kiss you!"

But she didn't. Instead she hoarded her precious belongings back onto her bunk like a magpie returning to its nest. Kakashi got up to pick up his bag.

Icha Icha Exchange. "Good man," Kakashi sighed and hugged the precious blue book to his chest. An enormous tension eased off his shoulders. "Why couldn't any of my students be more like you?"

"Hey…" Sakura squeaked, affronted.

Shikamaru snorted, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Says the man who trained an Uchiha and a Jinchuuriki." Noticing Sakura's glare he felt compelled to add, "And… uh… Sakura…"

"Urgh, whatever." She dismissed them both with an annoyed grunt. She didn't have time to waste on inconsiderate bastards. She had hair to comb!

As Kakashi began hurriedly thumbing through his book to find the page he'd left off at, Shikamaru rolled on the balls of his feet. "I get off in three hours," he informed Kakashi. "If there's anyone you want me to contact for you…?"

"Nope," said Kakashi easily.

"Naruto," Sakura piped. "Tell Naruto and Sasuke. But don't tell my parents. God, they're overbearing enough as it is on the days I'm _not_ in prison. They really don't need to hear about this."

Kakashi frowned at her. "Maybe someone should tell them… just in case they worry?"

"They won't even notice I'm gone," she grunted. "And do you really want them visiting everyday to witter on at us about criminal records and what a disappointment I am to them? You've met my mother. You know what she's like."

"Highly critical and shrill?" He remembered the lecture he'd been given off such a Mrs Haruno shortly after Sakura had received her first sprained ankle in her genin training. Kakashi's ears had been buzzing for the rest of the day.

"Exactly," Sakura said with finality. "Do you really want her camping outside our cell and giving you a verbal whipping for seven whole days? And she won't like it that we're sharing a cell. She's a complete prude, you know. She'd think that the fact that you can see my ankles is some sort of provocative foreplay."

Kakashi's gaze lingered on said ankles for a moment, wondering about the merit behind Mrs Haruno's ideas. A long time ago he'd once heard it said that the ankles of a woman could drive a man crazy with desire. And well, Sakura's ankles weren't half bad, but he was more of a hips and thigh kind of guy.

Although, come to think of it, Sakura's hips and thighs were really quite nice and toned; perfect for running his hands over in the middle of a rather passionate bout of-

_Badtrainofthought_.

Kakashi turned swiftly back to Shikamaru. "Don't tell her parents – specifically her mother. That woman will give _anyone_ a flea in the ear over _anything_," he said, flicking his own ear for emphasis.

"Yeah, that would be troublesome." Shikamaru nodded. "Well, see ya. And have a nice incarceration."

Kakashi returned to his bunk, intent upon catching up on the latest plot development in the Icha Icha series. His continued sanity was assured at last now that this book was safely back in his hand. But Sakura had other ideas.

"Is this better?" she asked.

Kakashi didn't tear his eyes off his book. "Much," he said.

"You're not even looking! _Is – this – better_? Tell me honestly."

Kakashi sighed and finally graced her with a brief, assessing glance. Her hair was a little tidier than before, what with it scraped back in a messy bun, but other than that she looked the same. "Sure," he said vaguely, not committing himself to a straight answer.

He went back to his book, even as he heard Sakura's tongue-click of annoyance.

"You're useless," she told him. "Where can I find a mirror? Why isn't there one in here?"

"Because if you were an unhappy sort of person, you might smash it and use it to slit your wrists," he told her cheerfully. "Prison regulations. As if ninjas don't already have a whole collection of suicide jutsus to fall back on anyway."

Sakura shifted uneasily on her bunk. "I don't…"

"You don't?" Kakashi blinked at her.

"No…" she said slowly. "Should I?"

"It's always recommended…" he trailed off. "Do you want me to teach you one?"

"Um, no." She shook her head and gave him a meaningful look. "I'd only be tempted to use it."

"Your loss," he told her, shrugging as he went back to his book.

Time drifted by at a snail's pace, as it tended to do when there was very little to entertain oneself with. Sakura eventually reached a satisfactory conclusion with her hair and started manicuring her nails and repainting her chipped polish. When she'd finished this, she took advantage of Kakashi's utter apathy when it came to anything outside Icha Icha to creep down between the bunks to start giving him a pedicure.

"When was the last time you cut these nails?" she asked, sawing away at his foot with a nail file.

"Uh, forty-three, I think," he said absently as he turned another page. He wasn't really listening.

Sakura cruelly contemplated painting his nails to match hers, but figured it wouldn't be wise to piss him off completely. At least, not while she had to share living space with him. Instead she finished with his feet and returned to watching her spider spin another repair on his broken web. There was nothing else for her to do except look forward to dinner. And if dinner was anything like lunch and breakfast, then this was a sad state to be in.

"You shouldn't worry about your hair so much," Kakashi suddenly said, as if their previous conversation had only just caught up with him.

"What are you, in another time zone or something?" She pulled a face at him.

Kakashi glanced at her over the top of his book. "Your hair looks nice down," he said easily. "Messy or neat, you're still pretty, so don't worry about it."

Sakura frowned slightly as Kakashi went back to reading. Was that a compliment? It was hard to say with Kakashi. It wasn't like he never handed out compliments or anything, but when he did it was always about her stance or her control or her fighting form, and he always said it with impartiality and fairness.

Even as he complimented her on something as personal as her appearance, he said it the same way he said, "Nice aim, Sakura."

Unsure of how to take such an admission from Kakashi, Sakura opted for her failsafe response. "Whatever…"

He was probably only teasing her anyway.

* * *

TBC 


	3. Day Two

A/N: If you haven't seen the note on my profile page or livejournal, then I urge you to have a look if you're wondering what happened to my updating schedule. But long story short, I'm currently hanging out in London. Flight was horrible (three guesses as to why). Ten hours without an ipod is the kind of thing that drives people to commit homicide. XD Don't get me started on the delays.

I'll be taking the train to Scotland tomorrow and hopefully in a few days things will get settled a little better.

Incidentally, if anyone's wondering how to get round the line breaker problem that the story editor seems to be having, trying copying and pasting a line break from a previous chapter or something. That seems to work.

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Three

Day Two

* * *

The second night was better. Kakashi didn't snore (at least, not after Sakura stuffed that large chunk of mattress foam into his mouth) leaving Sakura able to sleep like a metaphorical log. However, it wasn't long before she was awoken at an ungodly hour by Kakashi lightly slapping her cheeks. "Sakura? Sakura, wake up." 

Sakura groaned and rolled towards the wall, having no inclination to be conscious just yet. "Lemme alone…" she murmured a little truculently.

"Sakura, the thought has just struck me…"

"Can't it strike you later?" she grumbled, trying to burrow deeper into the uncomfortable mattress that grated against her cheek. "I'm busy."

"When was the last time you ate?"

Sakura's stomach gave a hard twist in response, and her eyebrows knitted closer as she groaned out loud. "Don't say stuff like that…"

"Why not?"

"It makes me hungry." She rubbed her stomach, trying to undo the knots of starvation there. She rolled over to give him an irritable look that she quickly switched to the bowl of sludge awaiting her on the floor. "And then I'd have to eat that."

It was too late to even think about recapturing that pleasant dream she'd been having about Sasuke (whipped cream _had _been involved), so Sakura gave an unhappy sigh and pushed herself up to sit against the wall, blanket wrapped around her like a shroud. She knew she probably looked atrocious. Again. But at least Kakashi had the tact not to stare.

"Come on," he said, sitting back on his bunk and stooping to pick up one of the bowls of gravel-that-would-be-breakfast. "I want you to eat it."

Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What have you done to it?"

"Nothing," he said, one eye wide in a picture of innocence.

"You spat in it, didn't you?"

"You're a very mistrusting girl."

"As any good kunoichi should be," she replied smartly, rubbing the sleepy crusts from her eyes. "And I'm not taking a single bite until you do."

Kakashi gave her an eye-roll of patient suffering. "Sakura-chan," he began warningly.

"Kakashi-sensei," she retorted in exactly the same tone. It was too early in the morning to pretend to be mature.

"If you don't eat this, you'll feel like shit by tonight, I promise you," he told her, stirring the bowl with the accompanying soup spoon. "And look, just to prove I'm not playing a trick on you – which, frankly, shocks me that you would think me capable of such a thing – I'll take the first sip."

Sakura eyed him warily as he scooped up a little of the pale brown stew into the spoon and brought it to his lips. A slight slurp and an imperceptible swallow… an eye-twitch and a near cough… and then Kakashi was holding out the bowl to her with a very fixed smile. "There you go, perfectly tasty."

Running a hand through her hair, Sakura regarded the offered spoon with a lightly crinkled nose. "I'm not using that. It's had your mouth on it."

"I don't have germs," he reassured her, still holding out the breakfast bowl.

"Of course you do, everyone does," she said contrarily. "What if you've had flu recently with a strain that I have yet to contract and build a defense for? You could potentially kill me."

Kakashi was undeterred. "I haven't had flu in five years."

Sakura frowned. "No, that's not right. What about last year? You said you couldn't come on the picnic because you had flu. Were you just making excuses?"

"Actually, I had chicken pox," he told her seriously. "I just didn't tell you guys because I knew you would all see it as an opportunity to come round and bully me while I was too weak to defend myself so-"

"Pox at twenty-nine?" Sakura interrupted with wide eyes. "Why weren't you in hospital?"

"Eh… I thought I was," he gave an uncaring shrug. "Turned out it was one of the flowerbeds in the park. But don't worry, I came out of it fine. Obviously I still have a purpose in life to fulfill… and right now that purpose is to get you to eat breakfast." He dropped the bowl into her lap unceremoniously. "Now eat."

Sakura took up the spoon grudgingly and let the stew drop back into the bowl with a gloopy splatter. "I hate you," she said flatly.

"Don't rush yourself," he told her cheerily. "You've still got another whole bowl to go."

Sakura stared at him. "What?"

"You lost the bet remember?" He tilted his head. "To get through the bars? Seeing as you're still here, I'm assuming that was a failure… so you have to eat my breakfast too."

Sakura's mouth dropped open in outrage. "Oh – _I _have to eat this crap, but you don't? That's a little unfair, don't you think?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "This is different. I can go days and weeks without food. You can't."

"Bull!"

"It's true." He shrugged at her.

Outside, gates were clanging and cells were opening. Keys jangled as guards moved along the cell blocks, turning out the prisoners. It appeared it was shower time once again for the men. An unknown guard appeared outside the cell to pop the lock and tug the gate open. Kakashi stood to leave, but before stepping outside he bent down to Sakura.

"Please eat?" he asked nicely, giving her a friendly smile and a gentle rub on the top of her head. "I don't want my cellmate getting sick, ok?"

Sakura turned her head away sulkily, even though she was oddly touched by his smile. Kakashi's hand dropped and he muttered a soft farewell before stepping out of sight. The gate shut with a clang and Sakura found herself alone again.

Well, _aright_. She conceded to eating the breakfast if only to get Kakashi off her case if not just to ease the growing ache in her stomach. But first, now that Kakashi was gone… she had to pee…

* * *

Deciding not to risk any more naked wrestling, Kakashi forwent his morning shower in favor of exploring the recreation house, which was really just a small, one-room building with a few tables laid out with board games. It smelt sterile and old, like a hospital, which hardly made Kakashi feel very welcome. 

There were a few other prisoners in there too who looked like they'd been forgoing showers in favor of games for many years. Kakashi took a seat next to an old man with a chessboard. "Mind if I join you?" he asked.

The old man wasn't much of a talker. He just set the pieces up afresh and gave Kakashi the first go.

After six moves, Kakashi leant back and scratched his nose. "Checkmate in twenty-four moves," he told the old man.

"Fuck off," the old man told him. "You're shitting me."

"I shit you not," Kakashi said amicably, but agreed to play on nonetheless. Twenty-four moves later, he sat back again. "Checkmate."

The old man stared at the board. "Well fuck me. You're as bad as that new guard, Something-maru. Shitting geniuses, the lot of you."

"Want to play again?"

"Fuck, no."

It wasn't easy making friends in prison, especially when you were a high ranking jonin with a squeaky-clean record and fantastically enviable skin. Kakashi only had to turn his back to feel a heat of a dozen bitter glares piercing him straight between the shoulders. And although it wasn't something that bothered him all that much, he found himself wishing he was back in his cramped little cell with the one person in this place who didn't actually want to kill him, despite her claims. He'd also left his book there too.

So Kakashi found himself winging away the remainder of his free hour by draping himself over the nearest couch to daydream – mostly about the many varying ways in which he could make the council members' lives an utter misery. Pins-on-chair no jutsu seemed to be his best bet.

A clatter of game pieces hitting the floor momentarily broke Kakashi out of his unhealthy dwellings. He cracked open a lazy eye to look across the room and regard the rather skinny young man who'd just knocked the contents of his shougi board off his table by accident. As the youth embarrassedly scurried to recover the fallen pieces, Kakashi closed his eye and went back to his thoughts, idly wondering when he'd be able to go back to the cell.

But alas, his peace was disturbed yet again when twelve burly men barreled into the room, laughing loudly and guffawing like badly behaved yobs. Judging from their bruises, Kakashi guessed they were part of the contingent he'd beaten up the previous day, and perhaps as long as he kept still and made no sudden movements, they wouldn't spot him.

It was the youth who unfortunately gained their attention though. He'd pretty much started shaking like a leaf as soon as they entered, drawing their eyes like a pack of dogs to a shivering cat. Kakashi didn't need to open his eyes to know they had moved towards his table, making lame jibes and intimidating quips.

"Oh, look at the baby playing shougi. Do you even know how to play shougi, baby?"

"You've got all your pieces in the wrong place."

"N-No, I haven't! Th-they're all-"

A crash and a clatter. "On the floor?"

There was a great raucous laugh after this that sounded uncannily like a pack of hyenas having a good time. Kakashi didn't think knocking over a kid's board game was particularly funny. But small things notoriously amused small minds, and thugs just didn't have the brain capacity to pursue higher levels of entertainment.

Now, the _Icha Icha_ series, on the other hand, was pure, unadulterated hilarity. Period.

"Oh, what's wrong? Is the baby going to cry?"

"Where's your mommy, baby? Are you in here all alone, baby?"

"Boohoo, you little dipshit. What you gonna do with that pencil, huh? Draw on us? Ooh – scary!"

Kakashi yawned and rolled over, intent on catching some shuteye.

"You know what, guys? I reckon we need to teach the new baby who's who around here. Can't let him go on giving us this attitude. Someone has to acquaint him with this thing called 'respect'-"

A crack of knuckles. "What do you want us to break first, boss?"

One of the thugs reached out across the table, about to snatch the boy out of his seat and drag him onto the floor… when his hand collided with Kakashi's chest.

A dozen men gave a startled flinch as the copy ninja suddenly appeared on the table, sitting like a meditating Buddha and effectively creating a barrier between the men and the youth. It was a little uncomfortable sitting on upset shougi pieces, but Kakashi couldn't lie back and feign indifference any longer.

"You probably know what I'm about to say," Kakashi began steadily. "Possibly. So while it would be a little redundant to actually voice it, I fear I may be overestimating your intelligence so I'll say it anyway." He leant forward a fraction. "Leave the kid alone. Or else."

Redundant _and_ clichéd.

The men weren't intimidated. The main ringleader of the little gang merely sneered at him. "How's your nose today, Hatake?"

"My nose is well, thank you," Kakashi said, shrugging. "I heal fast."

"Oh, good. Well we don't have any beef with you," the prison thug bit out, clearly bitter over the bruises Kakashi had already given him. "Don't go sticking your pretty nose into things that don't concern you. You'll only get hurt. Now move aside."

"You think my nose is pretty?" Déjà vu. "Not to puncture your dreams or anything, but I'd better point out now that I am mostly straight. Well… at least when it comes to large, hairy men with personal hygiene issues."

"What did you just call us?" They all took a threatening step forward.

"Hilarious," Kakashi deadpanned. "I mention large, hairy men with hygiene issues and you immediately think I'm referring to you."

Another threatening step. "Stop fucking around," said the ringleader, leaning so far forward he was forcing Kakashi to lean back in an effort to avoid his severe halitosis. "This is your last warning – get out of the way!"

"And I'll give you one last warning," Kakashi replied smoothly. "Leave the kid alone, or else."

Sneer. "Or else what?"

Kakashi fingered the stubble along his chin. "Ever heard of the infamous jutsu? The supreme taijutsu technique of one thousand years of death?"

The gang of brutes exchanged slightly nervous glances. Well, the title was a _bit_ intimidating. "No…" they said tentatively.

"Oh good," Kakashi said. "So it'll be quite the surprise when I ram my finger up your-"

He broke as a sharp pain jabbed into his shoulder. Wondering if he'd been stung by an errant wasp, Kakashi twisted his head to locate the source of the pain… only to find a pencil partially protruding from his back. "Ah."

He looked at the youth who'd stabbed him, who was staring back with wide eyes in a mixture of fear and anger. Clearly Kakashi had done something to upset the lad, but now the boy was afraid of the repercussions.

Shaking his head, Kakashi gave him a pitying look. "You know…" he began slowly. "That won't make them accept you any better."

"I don't need you defending me," the boy hissed.

"And I don't need wannabe hard nuts stabbing me in the back, but there you go." Kakashi slipped off the table onto his feet. "But next time… remember that a tap on the shoulder can get someone's attention just fine. And you're lucky I'm so nice; a crueler man might have killed you for that."

As it was, Kakashi just settled for hooking his foot under the youth's chair and tipping it backwards. Boy and chair went over with a clatter and a yelp. "But I'm not that nice," he drawled. "Don't piss people off here, kid. Not everyone will be so forgiving."

A bell rung outside, signaling the end of the men's free hour. Kakashi straightened with a wince and nodded to the dozen brutes staring at him and the youth with trepidation. "Ladies," he nodded politely, before turning abruptly and walking out the recreation room before anyone had time to collar him and form a dogpile on top of him as they'd done yesterday.

Sakura was still making a meal out of her breakfast by the time he was let back into the cell. One bowl lay empty on the floor while the other sat in her lap, nearly finished. Sakura herself looked slightly green around the gills. "You're right, I feel much better, thanks," she told him dryly as he entered. "I won't die of starvation yet. Only poisoning."

"That's nice," Kakashi slid onto his bunk with a thump, lying face down on the mattress. His shoulder was beginning to throb. Like most wounds, it was only really beginning to hurt now that he had nothing other to do than dwell on it.

Sakura spotted the protruding pencil instantly. "Oh my god!" She jumped out of her seat, throwing off her musty blanket. Setting down her bowl, she hurried to kneel by his side. "What happened? Did you piss someone off again?"

"Sakura, I know you've never listened to any piece of advise I've ever given you in your entire life," he said softly. "But trust me… don't bother helping anyone. Ever. It's a waste of time." He jabbed a thumb towards his injured back. "_This_ is the thanks you get."

"I'm a medic, though," she pointed out, examining his shoulder. "Helping people is in my job description. Do you mind if I tear your shirt?"

Kakashi stiffened. "Ah?"

"I'd ask you to take it off, but it'll knock the pencil," she told him. "Just a little tear, I promise."

Kakashi sighed. "Go ahead. It's not like it's _my _shirt or anything…"

With his assent, Sakura carefully tore a long line in his gray shirt, pulling it apart to expose the wound. "Ouch, that's deep," she commented. At a few centimeters deep, the wound was hardly the worst she'd ever seen, but she knew from experience that patients (men especially) liked people to make a big deal out of whatever ailed them. "I might have to amputate your arm."

"Funny," Kakashi muttered. "And I thought you'd vowed that you wouldn't heal me if I got injured again."

Well, she had, but that had only been because she hadn't expected him to get injured again quite so readily. "That only applied to your nose."

"Ah."

"Keep still," she told him airily. "This won't hurt a bit." She leant over him and clasped the pencil between the fingers of one hand, while the other was employed in pushing soothing chakra into the punctured flesh. She waited until his elbow drooped in numbness before beginning to ease the pencil out.

Once it was free, she handed it to him. "Here ya go."

Kakashi regarded the blood-stained pencil. "This could come in handy…"

Shifting on her knees, Sakura drew both hands over the wound, modifying her chakra once again in order to make the muscle and skin knit back together. "Seriously, could you try to go at least _one_ day without getting into a fight?" she asked him, pained.

"I'm just keeping you on your toes."

"You know what I think?" she said coyly. "I think you're slowing down. Reactions aren't quite what they used to be, huh?"

"I have the reactions of a cat," he retorted.

"A dead one, apparently."

"Well, you've lost _your_ tip."

Sakura grinned, confident that he couldn't see her face. When she was satisfied that his shoulder was mark free, she pulled her hands away and rubbed them together. "All done. How does it feel?"

"Stiff," he said, rolling his shoulder with a soft grunt.

"Yeah, that can happen sometimes." She began to stand up, intent on washing her hands and finding something to clean the blood off Kakashi's back. When he started to rise, she pushed him back down. "Don't get up, I'm not done."

He lifted his head to give her a beseeching look. "But I want my book."

Sakura picked it up off the floor and threw it down before him. Contented, he shut up, flipped to his favorite page and began reading. He didn't seem to notice as Sakura returned to his side with a wet blanket corner to wipe his back down. However, he did shift a little in surprise when she began pressing her fingers hard against shoulder in an unmistakable caress. "What are you doing?" he asked, uncertain.

"Massaging the muscle," she told him as if it was obvious. "If I don't it'll just get stiffer, especially with such an appalling bed."

Kakashi pursed his lips. "You're just trying to get your tip back."

"Well, of course."

He had to admit it was quite nice to have his shoulder tended to in such a way. More than once he found his eyes slipping away from the pages of his book to stare into space as pleasurable tingles spread throughout his sore muscles. When the guard came along to announce it was time for Sakura's free hour, he was surprised how glad he was when she declined.

"I'll pass, thanks," she told the guard and went back to work on his shoulder.

Kakashi found himself almost drifting away under her ministrations. He could close his eyes and forget where he was completely and pretend he was at one of those luxury spars next to a paradise beach with one of those cute buxom masseuse girls standing over him. He'd had _that_ fantasy before. And in that fantasy, the girl – preferably with long flowing hair and big dark eyes – would climb on top of him and continue from there….

That was when Sakura climbed on top of him. "I hope you don't mind," she said cautiously, settling on his back. "It's just easier from this angle."

"Sure, no problem." He shrugged.

"Don't shrug."

"Sorry." He slumped.

"And try not to slump."

His fantasy masseuse girl was a little less sharper than this, much to his lament. He had to admit that initially he felt quite awkward to have her straddling his back like that. Even though Sakura was perfectly brusque and business-like, he'd never gotten used to the idea of being that physically close to someone…

…unless sex was involved.

And even then, he liked to keep the touching to the minimum, to the point where he'd hold a sexual partner's wrists down out of a deep, ingrained force of habit. Aside from the fact that it prevented potential enemy kunoichi from reaching for a weapon or forming hand seals while he was distracted (which had saved his life more than once in the past), it prevented most encounters from becoming too intimate and touchy-feely. Sex was a great way to blow off steam, that was all. A ninja had nothing more to gain from it than that.

But the massage, against his fixed antisocial tendencies… was actually quite nice. Icha Icha dangled from his hand, neglected. Kakashi's eyes had long since slid shut to concentrate on the deliciously relaxing manipulations.

"Do you do that for all your patients?" he asked, aware of how sleepy he sounded. But he was pretty sure medics didn't make a habit out of this.

"No, I hardly have the time, but it's always recommended," she replied, shifting up to brace her weight on her knees as she squeezed his shoulders roughly. "People think that healing with chakra is like magic or something. People like Naruto. It's actually more like sticking a bandage on a wound. It works for now… but there's aftercare involved as well. That's why I keep telling Naruto off every time he starts bouncing around after I heal him. The flesh is healed but the patient still needs to take it easy. Though normally the nurses do this bit."

"Mm." Kakashi was really only half listening. "You're good."

If he'd been more alert he would have heard the glow of pleasure in her voice. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

As it was, all he could seem to concentrate on was the feel of her soft rump settling back down on the small of his back. He could feel the warmth of her body through their clothes, and in passing he wondered if they'd taken away her underwear too. If they had…?

Unseen to Sakura, Kakashi scowled. Thoughts like that were entirely inappropriate, especially considering they were about Sakura. Sweet, naïve, sharp-tongued little Sakura. Probably still a virgin considering how devoted and loyal she was to the uninterested Uchiha. She trusted Kakashi. She trusted him on missions to look out for her and keep her safe, the same way she probably trusted him not to have pervy thoughts about her when sitting this close.

He felt like a dirty old man. And he was only thirty!

Sakura rocked forward to lean over him. "Does that feel good?"

She couldn't have known. She couldn't have _possibly_ known that her particularly wording and tone of voice was reserved solely for the bedroom between men and women who loved each other very much. She was too young to understand how she'd sounded and how easily men could be distracted by such simple feminine charms.

"Yes, that feels great," he said quickly. "I feel much better now." He began rising, hinting that their session was over.

Sakura dutifully picked herself up off his back and found a seat next to him as he sat up with his back to the wall, staring stiffly into an unseen distance. Her utter obliviousness about what had just gone through his head was confirmed when she drew her knees up to her chest and said, "I wonder when Naruto and Sasuke are going to visit?" She sounded put out.

"They might not be back from their mission yet," he told her, welcoming the distracting conversation. Talking about Sasuke and Naruto helped him keep his mind off other things… like Sakura's panties– or lack thereof.

It had to be the strict confinement doing funny things to his mind, he decided. Under normal circumstances, such thoughts would never have crossed his mind.

"Are you hungry?" she asked suddenly.

"Sure," he answered, without thinking.

She scooped up the bowl from the floor that still had a little gray goop left in the bottom. "You can have the rest of my breakfast if you want."

"I don't want." He gave it a look of pure distaste.

"Please? For me?" Her eyes were big, green and wet as they peered up at him imploringly. "I don't want my cellmate getting sick on me."

"Alright," he said, caving. He brought one spoonful to his mouth, and as he chewed thoughtfully, he caught sight of a rather catty grin on Sakura's face. "What?" he asked. His eyes narrowed.

"Nothing," she piped cheerfully.

Kakashi stopped chewing slowly as a dreadful realization crept up on him. "You spat in this, didn't you?"

"Yup." Her grin widened.

With a sigh, Kakashi resumed chewing. "That's alright," he said evenly, taking another spoonful. "I spat in yours too."

The grin slid dramatically from Sakura's face.

* * *

It was much later on in the day when Sasuke and Naruto finally arrived. Kakashi was sitting on his side of the cell, quietly reading his book and valiantly ignoring the bits of foam that Sakura was flicking at him in her fit of pure boredom and passive aggression. The longer he refused to act, the larger the bits of mattress foam became until finally someone cleared their throat at the entrance of the cell. 

Sakura turned sharply and immediately flung herself toward the bars. "Naruto! Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto was the only one who caught her outstretched hands. "Sakura-chan! What have they done to you? You look terrible!"

Sakura pulled back sharply. "What do you mean 'terrible'?" she demanded hotly.

Naruto had wisely learnt to skim past these snags of miscommunication between the two of them. "What happened?" he asked her, looking to Kakashi who had yet to remove his nose from his book.

"I've got to hear this," Sasuke said, arms folded and smirking.

"It's just a mistake," Sakura told them both. "This guy thinks we killed his daughter – we didn't though, because she was already dead, right? But he's too stupid and upset to listen to reason, and he's such great buddies with the council that when he told them to lock us up… well… go figure."

"Unbelievable," the Uchiha muttered.

"Why don't you just break out?" Naruto asked, shaking the bars to test their strength. "You could break these apart in seconds. And Kakashi-sensei – you could-"

"No point, Naruto," she sighed, feeling the weight of a heavy heart in her chest. "Kakashi-sensei says that they'll just haul us back and drug us to stop it happening again. And to be honest, I think I'd prefer our current situation to _that_. And that's saying something."

"It's not that bad, Sakura," Kakashi admonished mildly, without managing to pry his eyes away from the pages of his novel.

Sakura shook her head at Sasuke and Naruto quite emphatically. "Yes it is!" she hissed at them. "The food is appalling, the showers are cold, the soap is made out of horse urine, they won't give me back my hair tongs and Kakashi-sensei snores like a drill. And when he's awake, all he does is pick fights with other prisoners, spit in my food and read dirty books. He's driving me _insane_!"

"He's sitting right here…" Kakashi felt the need to point out.

Sakura ignored him. "You have to get in touch with Tsunade-shishou! Tell her what's going on and what the council has done to us. Make her come back and turn us loose. Naruto, Sasuke-kun – I'm begging you both! If we don't get out soon we'll just annoy each other to death. Seriously."

Naruto looked troubled, but Sasuke just looked plain bored, though unlike Naruto his eyes were firmly fixed on Kakashi. He'd probably realized that their old sensei wasn't wearing his mask and was waiting for him to lower that book to catch a better glimpse. And since he clearly wasn't listening to her, she turned her attention on Naruto. "Talk to Shizune. She'll know where Tsunade is. Don't bother trying to negotiate with the council, because they probably won't listen to you. Neither of you are really popular with them."

Naruto (jinchuuriki) and Sasuke (traitor and brother to a mass-murdering maniac) nodded in fair acceptance. "We'll see what we can do," Naruto said with conviction. Sakura knew he would take this as a personal challenge and a near official mission. It reassured her to know he'd take it so seriously, but one look at Sasuke made her despair. He was clearly enjoying her and Kakashi's situation. A faint smile played on his lips – which was about as close to delirious joy as an Uchiha could get.

Shikamaru sloped into Sakura's line of sight. "Time to go, guys," he said to Naruto and Sasuke. "Visiting time is over."

"Naruto, do your best!" Sakura waved after him.

"You can rely on me!" Naruto thumped his chest confidently, which was a bit like his version of Lee's good-guy pose. "I won't let you down!"

Sasuke, less concerned, just shrugged and followed Naruto away. Clearly he was taking a similar stance as Kakashi: that this whole ordeal was just a funny blip in their career that they could all laugh about at a later date.

It would be a long time before Sakura found the lack of decent bathing facilities and hair care products at all funny.

With a sigh she slumped back onto her bunk and picked once more at her foam mattress. She stared at the wall above Kakashi's head, running her mind over Naruto's promise. "You know, that guy's about the closest thing we have to a village idiot?"

"Scary, huh?" Kakashi remarked impassively, turning a page.

"Not his fault," she grunted as she rolled onto her stomach. "He's just blond."

"Not a fan of blonds then?"

"I prefer dark hair myself."

Unbeknownst to Sakura, Kakashi paused to tug a lock of pale white hair over his forehead to inspect. Yep… that was about as far from dark as you could get. Shrugging, he went back to his book.

It was only half an hour after this that Sakura began kicking up her feet in boredom. "I'm bored," she declared ominously.

Kakashi said nothing.

"Really, really bored." She let rip an exaggerated sigh.

Kakashi still refused to acknowledge her.

"Talk to me," she pleaded. "Say _something_."

"Something," he said.

"Argh!" She threw up her hands. "You're maddening!"

Kakashi lowered his book and gave her a thoughtful look. "Not as maddening as you."

"What?" she demanded defensively. "I'm not doing anything. _You're_ the annoying one – always reading your book and ignoring me and treating this like a vacation rather than the sordid miscarriage of justice that it really is!"

Kakashi regarded her coolly through hooded eyes. "Well, if we're going to be honest with each other, I have to admit you're a bit annoying yourself."

Sakura's blood froze in horror. She could suffer many insults and name-calling as she'd been subjected to more than her share in past years. Forehead girl. Suck-up. Hag. But the only barb that could truly strike deep was the one with the word 'annoying' attached to it. "How am I annoying?" she ground out.

"I find your inability to cope with your own boredom quite tiresome," he said, shrugging. "And your incessant need to oppose everything I say for the sake of being stubborn and contrary. You can't chill out for longer than an hour before you start complaining. And this obsession you have over your hair…"

In Sakura's opinion, none of those were particularly annoying qualities. Just human ones. And that last one was just a typical female one – how dare he throw that in her face! "I'm _bored_ because you're always reading a book and ignoring me!" she snapped at him. "You're way more annoying than me. Face it."

He held up a finger. "No, I think you'll find you're the more annoying one."

Sakura mockingly mimed his held up finger. "No, I think you'll find _you're_ the more annoying one."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed and he dropped his hand. "That's quite annoying, you know."

"Not as annoying as your self-righteous tone," she bit at him.

"Not as annoying as your whining."

"I do not whine!"

"You're doing it right now."

Sakura's jaw snapped shut and she glared at him ferociously, wishing she had the power to kill people with her mind (that way no one could prove she'd murdered Hatake Kakashi). She resented being called a whiner. She knew she had a light, girlish voice, and it was just one more on a long list of her bodily insecurities. She wished she had a deep, sensual voice like Kurenai who sounded like she'd just gotten out of bed at every point in the day. But no… she'd inherited her mother's voice box. And if she was anything like her mother then the more angry and upset she got, the higher her voice went. But it was something about herself that she couldn't change, no matter how much she wished it. She hoped that in time it would deepen with maturity… the same way she hoped her forehead would get smaller or her breasts larger.

No such luck so far on any of these fronts.

Bitter, Sakura rolled to face away from Kakashi. "I am not annoying," she breathed, consciously keeping her voice calm and low.

Kakashi stared at her back and chewed the inside of his cheek. Sakura really was quite an insecure girl at heart, and perhaps she'd taken his last remark a little too personally. Perhaps he should apologize to her and amend that her voice was actually quite sweet and melodious on the ear. Except she wouldn't believe him even if he did say it…

But suddenly Sakura was on her feet, ducking down between the bunks, searching for something on the floor. Kakashi watched her curiously until eventually she straightened. The pencil that had been lodged in his shoulder was in her hand.

"What are you doing?" he asked casually as she knelt back on her bunk and started scribbling on the wall.

"I'm going to prove to you how annoying you are," she told him determinedly.

"Through interpretive pictographs?" he asked, eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

"No, through tally."

She stepped back, letting him see what she'd drawn. It seemed to be a rough table of sorts with two columns stretching down. Above each column was a face; one decidedly happy, the other quite angry.

Sakura climbed up next to Kakashi and began drawing exactly the same table on his wall too.

"Every time one of us does something that annoys the other, we mark it down in the bad column," she explained, doodling away. "But you can get marks back by doing something nice and considerate, so- hey!"

Kakashi snatched the pencil away instantly and jabbed a quick mark in the negative column.

"What was that for?" she growled.

"For coming up with this ludicrous scheme to begin with," he said.

With a huff, Sakura stole back the pencil and hurried to her side of the cell to scratch two marks down in her negative column. "That's for calling this a ludicrous scheme and _that's _for being so friggin' quick off the mark!"

Kakashi stroked his chin. "I can see this getting out of hand quite quickly…" he drawled. "And is there any point to this 'tally'?"

"Sure," she said, settling down on her bunk with her arms folded. She scowled at him, watching him like a hawk as if waiting for the next excuse to deem him annoying. He only had to _breathe_ wrong and she'd be jotting down another five marks. "Whoever ends up with the least points, or the most negative points by the time we get out of here, loses."

"And then?" Kakashi prompted.

Sakura stared at him, her mind clearly racing for something else to add to the challenge. "Whoever loses," she began slowly, as if speaking the thoughts as they arrived. "Whoever loses has to give the winner half of his next paycheck."

Kakashi's eyes sharpened. "Or _her_ paycheck," he shot back.

"Is that a deal?" she asked, her own eyes glittering.

"Only if you promise to use some self-restraint when it comes to taking points away," he said.

Sakura shrugged. "Depends how annoying you get."

"Then it's a deal."

It seemed to work out for a while. Sakura tried her best not to complain about her lack of 'necessities' and Kakashi made more of an effort to lower his book occasionally to engage her in conversation, no matter how forced. The marks stayed at –1 to –2 in Sakura's favor until one of her careless comments regarding his age snuck into their conversation and the scores evened to –2 on both sides.

They stayed there until it grew too dark to read and Kakashi decided to turn in for the night.

When he woke up the next morning and the rising sun lit up the cell, Kakashi glanced across at Sakura's wall… and then did a double take.

At some point during the night he'd acquired _minus thirty points_!

Sakura was awake, glaring at him with dark circles under her eyes. "Snoring," she grunted at him in a cracked voice.

"Ah."

He made a mental note to award her minus twenty-eight for being far too sensitive.

* * *

TBC 


	4. Day Three

_A/N: This fic will probably be about 9-10 chapters long, in case you were wondering. :3_

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Four

Day Three

* * *

By day three, things were beginning to settle into some semblance of a rhythm. Kakashi got up, Sakura caught some sleep, Kakashi went for a shower, Sakura went for a shower, they both came back, guessed what lunch had been in a past life, then went on making attempts to stave off boredom for another day. 

But even then, boredom had becoming boring. It was too much of an effort to feel frustrated at being locked in such a small space. Lethargy had crept over them on a Shikamaru kind of scale to the point where staring off into the cloudy sky was becoming the highlight of the day. Sakura couldn't be bothered complaining anymore. She just wanted to lie back and sleep away the rest of her detention. There was nothing else to do other than sleep. God knew Kakashi didn't let her get enough of it at night anyway.

Just lying there on her bunk with her head propped awkwardly against the wall, watching Kakashi read, was slowly beginning to make her mind cave in. She could already feel the atrophy setting in on her body. How long did it take a man to read a book anyway? It seemed he was always on the same page day after day… and she could have sworn he'd been closer to the end of the book yesterday than he was now.

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she regarded him through hooded eyes. "Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm," he hummed without looking up.

"Whatcha reading?" She knew perfectly well what he was reading.

"A book," he replied helpfully.

"What's the book called?" she asked, purely in an effort to keep the talk rolling. She couldn't have cared less, really.

"You have eyes," he said, holding it up so she could read the cover which said '_Icha Icha Exchange'._

"_You Have Eyes_, is a very odd choice in title for Jiraiya-sama." She rolled her head back. "Normally it's like… Icha Icha Paradise, or Icha Icha Chicken Salad – or my personal favorite – Icha Icha Icha. Maybe he's branching out, huh?"

Kakashi made a soft sound like a mild laugh, but by the time Sakura lifted her head, any grin he'd been wearing was safely hidden away behind his book. She knew it was there though. Smiling like a contented cat, Sakura began to yawn and stretch slowly, working out the kinks in her joints. After a moment she sagged, too tired to correct herself out of her stretched slump as she gazed bleakly up at the ceiling. "Kakashi-sensei?" she said again.

"Hm."

"What's your book about?"

Kakashi's gaze slid up to meet hers. She was just teasing him and he probably knew it, but Sakura put on her most convincing expression of innocence and nonchalance.

"How old are you again?" he asked, tilting his head back to look down his nose at her.

Sakura smiled sweetly at him. "Nearly seventeen."

"No sorry, I can't tell you the plot," he said with an aggrieved shake of the head. "Not for another two years at least."

"I see." Sakura rolled herself up off the bunk just enough to reach for the pencil and scratch another mark in her Unhappy column. Kakashi sighed to himself, noticing that he now had at least minus forty-three points against him while the Happy column remained worryingly empty. "You're a little vindictive," he pointed out to her.

Another mark. Sakura looked at him blankly over her shoulder, pencil still poised against the wall. She was clearly waiting for him to say something else that would earn him a bad mark.

Kakashi decided to say nothing at all and just went back to his story. But this too seemed to annoy Sakura, as he heard more furious scratching as extra marks were laid down on the wall. Eventually, satisfied that she'd belittled him enough, she plopped back down on her bunk to take up her customary 'dead cat' sprawl. She could have been dead for the way she stared so unfailingly at the ceiling.

Then she said something surprising.

"It's my birthday in two days," she said wearily.

Kakashi blinked at her. "Ah… so it is." He seemed to recall her birthday being some time in March, but only because he'd known her for so long. He didn't keep an active track of the birthdays going on around him, no matter whose they were. He didn't even keep track of his own really…

"I forgot, because of everything that was happening," Sakura said, more to herself than him. "Imagine that? Forgetting your own birthday."

"It happens as you get older," Kakashi said mildly, turning back to his open page. "Birthdays become less exciting as you grow up. You'd be surprised how easy it is to completely forget the anniversary of your birth when you're nearly twenty-five like me."

Sakura gave a sharp bark of laughter. "Yeah… _nearly _twenty-five, like I'm nearly eleven."

Kakashi looked up at her, about to respond with some kind of devastating quip when his voice died in his throat. Sakura was arching her back, screwing up her face in an attempt to get comfortable on the unyielding mattress. Nothing unusual in that, but… the way she stretched had made the material of her shirt draw tight across her chest, outlining her breasts in alarming detail. It wasn't exactly cold in the cell, despite the open front, but there was clearly enough of a draft to make her nipples pucker up like tight little buttons beneath her gray shirt. But she couldn't have been aware of this. Sakura was an incredibly self-conscious girl, and it was likely that if she knew how much her shirt was showing then she would be hiding under her blanket for the rest of the week.

Forcing his eyes away from those deliciously soft, round mounds straining beneath her shirt was more difficult than he anticipated. But it wouldn't do for Sakura to notice his stare… nor would it be wise to imagine himself touching her there to see if she was as firm as she looked. His right hand tingled at the thought of feeling one of those tight, puckered nipples dragging across his palm.

Then she flopped back down onto her mattress with a sigh and turned to him, effectively breaking the spell she'd unknowingly cast over him. Kakashi's eyes instantly snapped back onto his book, seeking to distract himself.

To his horror, the passage he was currently reading was only too happy to continue a description about such parts of the female anatomy (although, to be fair, very few passages of Icha Icha _weren't_ dedicated in some way to female anatomy). Kakashi gave his head the smallest of shakes and flipped forward a few pages to a 'cleaner' chapter.

Fortunately, Sakura was quite unaware of his momentary fluster. "I can't believe I'm going to be in prison for my seventeenth," she said, frowning pensively at a point somewhere around his knee. "How messed up is that?"

Kakashi cleared his throat, keeping his eyes firmly fixed on his book. "I was in prison when I was seventeen too, you know."

Sakura stiffened and stared directly at him. "What?" she asked, sounding shocked. "Seriously? What did you do?"

"Oh, nothing illegal…" he cocked his head. "At least not by Konoha standards. I was held in Kumogakure as a prisoner of war during the last days of the conflict. Good thing the war ended or I'd probably have been executed back then. In fact, my safe return to Konoha was one of the preliminary conditions of the peace talks." He gave her a slightly sheepish smile. "Actually, I was in and out of all sorts of prisons back then. Kumogakure was simply the only one I couldn't seem to escape from." He looked around the cell as if seeing it for the first time. "This place is pretty much a paper bag compared to that place, I have to say."

"I'll… take your word for it," Sakura said weakly.

Frankly she was amazed. She could pretty much guess that Kakashi had had a wild and exciting life from the way people talked about him so reverently and the sheer number of strangers who knew his name. She could picture him as a young man – a boy her own age – possibly like Sasuke. Someone who was brash with arrogance who would fight too hard and make one careless mistake that would get him pinned by the enemy. She could also imagine him soaking back his strength in some dingy Thunder country village prison before making a harrowing escape through the night.

Probably a little romanticized… but seriously, there were times when she forgot just how cool her old sensei had been. And still was.

Reaching up, she gave him a single notch in the Happy column. He looked at her quizzically. "What was that for?" he asked, confused.

"For telling me something cool about your past," she said with a grin. "Honestly, getting anecdotes out of you is like trying to draw blood from a stone. That definitely deserves some positive reinforcement."

"It does, huh?" Kakashi thoughtfully stroked his chin. "Did I ever tell you about the time I was captured in Kirigakure? That was around the time I learnt exactly how thumbscrews worked and – hey, where's my good mark gone?"

Sakura had smudged it out with a thumb and a scowl. "No torture stories," she said shortly. "They're gross."

That was a shame… they were pretty much the only stories he had. With a sigh he gave up and tried to remember exactly where he'd left off in his book. But Sakura had other ideas.

"So, since I'm only seventeen once," she said, changing the subject with a sunny smile. "What is my favoritest sensei going to get his favoritest pupil?"

Kakashi stared at her. "I'm supposed to get you something?"

Sakura's face darkened, and her pencil began inching towards the Unhappy column again. Kakashi panicked. "Uh – flowers?" The pencil didn't stop. "A cat? A hamster! What about a goldfish?" Unamused, Sakura's pencil connected with the wall. "Perfume? Clothes? Make-up? What – I don't know. A… uh… a weapon?"

Sakura's hand paused, her expression curious. "What sort of weapon?" she asked.

"I know a guy who makes beautiful tanto," he told her. "I can get one made out in pink for you."

"Really?" Sakura looked delighted. "You would do that for me?"

He thought about it for a moment. Would he? Really? He hated giving presents, but… "Sure." He felt unusually generous towards her.

"I'm not sure how to use a tanto though," she told him, glowing with barely contained pleasure.

"I can teach you if you want," he offered before he could stop himself. "It's really just a dagger, so you'll pick it up quickly. I know you're specialized in taijutsu, but it can't hurt to take on a back-up weapon."

Sakura's smile was wide and heart-warming. "Thanks, Kakashi-sensei," she squeaked. "I mean it."

He shrugged, pretending it wasn't all that big a deal. But in truth he felt a little troubled. He actually _wanted_ to get her that silly gift now, just so he could be on the receiving end of another heart-warming smile of gratitude.

But something else troubled him too. "You know… I think that deserves at least two points," he hinted at her. "For both gift and training."

"Gift first, points later, 'kay?"

"But I won't be able to get the present till we're free," he told her. And by then the whole points system would be redundant as the winner would have already been declared upon exiting the prison.

"Not my problem," she said cheerfully, laughing softly.

Kakashi laughed too. "Hahaha… minus six points for Sakura-chan." He held out his hand for the pencil.

"Eh?" Her smile fled. "What did _I _do?"

"You were ungrateful and materialistic," he told her, snapping his fingers. "Pencil, please."

She shrugged. "Fair's fair," she said, holding out the writing implement.

She had nice hands, he thought idly, as his fingers brushed hers. Manicured nails with white tips and fingers that were slim and feminine, but strong. She was double-jointed too. Her thumb could bend in all sorts of wrong directions far too easily. He was willing to bet she would be lightening fast with hand seals, but he couldn't recall her ever using much advanced ninjutsu like that before.

When Kakashi set the pencil down, there were now seven extra marks in his Unhappy column. Sakura noticed this at once. "I thought you said 'six'?"

"I did." He nodded.

"So what's the seventh one for?"

_For giving me sex and Sakura in the same train of thought?_

"For monopolizing the pencil so much."

"Ah… you nitpicker."

* * *

Supper, like breakfast and dinner, was pathetic, but at least it was recognizable as a valid food substance. Plain rice and vegetables wasn't what Sakura would call completely appetizing, but she did her best to eat it anyway since the other prison meals weren't exactly nutritious or filling. 

Kakashi refused to eat his on the grounds that he was allergic to carrots.

Which was utter rubbish in Sakura's opinion.

As she sat huddled on her bunk, munching her decidedly _crunchy_ rice, Kakashi stood by the cell bars, watching the sun set. Sakura stared at his back, feeling exasperated. Why was the sun setting so fascinating? He'd only burn his retina out.

But when he spoke, she realized he hadn't been watching the sunset at all.

"There's a storm coming."

Sakura paused in her chewing to look past him at the sky. She couldn't see what was so different about this sky that made him so sure a storm was on the way. It looked no different from any other evening. "How can you tell?" she asked.

He shifted his stance a little, draping his arms over the metal slat across the bars. "The humidity, for one," he said. "You can taste it. And the clouds are moving toward the sun."

Sakura blinked. "So?"

Kakashi looked back at her patiently. "The sun is setting."

Sakura's eyes darted around briefly. "And?"

He sighed. "Wind moves from west to east, not east to west. It's to do with the rotation of the planet," he said, turning back to the sunset. "If the wind is moving in the opposite direction, it means something is causing it to rotate. A storm, most likely. And with the air this hot it'll be moving fast. You can tell by the shape of the clouds how high the pressure is… I'd say it'll be here tonight."

Sakura gaped at him softly. "But… that's impossible. The sky is virtually clear."

"I can smell a storm a mile a way," he told her. "I'm never wrong."

"Then you're just pulling my leg," she decided, going back to her supper.

He just smiled elusively as if to say '_We'll see._'

Granted, by nightfall the cloud was beginning to gather a little and the wind was a mite bit stronger than usual, but there was nothing serious to indicate a storm was on the way. She watched and waited, but there was no telling grumble of thunder either. A particularly strong gust of wind blew a swath of leaves through the bars, but that was about as violent as the weather was willing to get.

Sakura skewed Kakashi an unimpressed scowl, but he was too busy picking up leaves to pay attention. He pressed them between his hands and blew into them to make an odd buzzing noise. Well… when it was too dark to read Icha Icha, he had to keep himself entertained _somehow_.

Settling down on her bunk, Sakura drew the threadbare blanket over her shoulders and tried to close her mind to the odd hisses and whispers of the valley below (and Kakashi's whiny buzzes) as she tried to go to sleep. Perhaps if she could drift off before Kakashi, she wouldn't be kept awake by his snores?

She needn't have bothered.

No sooner was she asleep then she was thrust awake by an incredible bang. Sakura shot upright with a cry as flickering blue light filled the cell. It dispersed far too quickly for Sakura to register what was happening, leaving her stiff with fear and confusion and a hammering heart.

"You ok?"

Kakashi was still sitting up in his bunk, head turned in her direction. His voice was muffled slightly by the wind that was howling around the edges of the eaves and walls.

Sakura opened her mouth to answer when an enormous crash of thunder killed the words before they'd even left her throat. All she could manage was a petrified squeal before she dived across the cell with her blanket and hid against Kakashi's side. Another deafening crack split the air, as if some enormous monster was fracturing the very earth. Sakura suppressed a strangled moan and tried to wedge herself further between Kakashi and the wall behind him.

"Something the matter?" he called over the wind.

"We're going to die!" she yelled at him, wrapping her arms around one of his as if to anchor herself.

"We're not going to die," he replied quite calmly, but whatever he said next was drowned out by the rolling thunder.

"We're basically out in the open!" She waved a shaky hand at the font of the cell. "There's nothing to protect us! And those bars are metal – they'll attract the lightening!"

He said something again, but Sakura couldn't hear. She felt the vibrations of his voice through his body, but the words were lost on the wind. Lightening flashed again, catching his outline in sharp relief. "_What?" _she shouted.

He leant down, his mouth so close to her ear that his lips brushed her sensitive skin. "Even if the lightening strikes the cell, it won't harm us," he said, his soothing tone and warm breath sending a shiver that had nothing to do with fear down her spine. "Just don't go swinging on the bars and you'll be fine. Anyway, it's not that bad. Have a look for yourself."

Sakura peered over his shoulder to see where he was pointing. Except... what he called 'not bad' was absolutely mind-numbingly terrifying for Sakura. From their vantage point over the valley, the forks of lightening were all too full and close. They spat down from a low sky, exploding into the trees below. Sometimes they came down miles away, and sometimes they struck only a few hundred meters down the slope. It was the latter ones that got Sakura's hackles raised.

Sakura gave another petrified squeak and pressed her face against Kakashi's shoulder. "Oh God," she moaned. "Why did you have to be right?"

"I'm always right," he told her cheerfully as he pried his arm out of her grip to wrap it around her shoulders instead. He rested his hand on her hair, ruffling it in a comforting way. "You're acting ridiculous, by the way. What kind of ninja is scared of a little bad weather?"

"This isn't bad weather… this is Armageddon," she said, twisting her fingers into the material of his shirt. His presence was warm and strong, something that made the terrifying booms and cracks seem further away, but it was his smell that eased her tension the most. It wasn't exactly pleasant, considering he'd been using prison-issue soap for the last couple of days, but it wasn't unpleasant either. It seemed musky and male, a scent that she'd always associated with Kakashi in some way, although this was the first time she'd consciously noticed it.

Another bang rocked the air and Sakura jerked in fright, scrambling to pull Kakashi closer, her arms going around his neck. But even while her heart thundered in fear, Kakashi seemed at ease. She could feel his pulse against her arm, thumping an even rhythm as if he was enjoying a quiet afternoon in a library rather than sitting directly beneath a thunder storm.

"Why aren't you scared?" she demanded, feeling stupid for being the only one intimidated by loud noises.

"Lightening doesn't scare me," he replied steadily.

"Say that again after it strikes you," she told him, shivering.

"Oh, I've been struck by lightening before." He looked out over the lit up valley. "Or maybe I struck _it_? It's hard to say."

Sakura relaxed her grip around his neck somewhat. "That's right… your Raikiri…" Then she shook her head. "Is that even true? That you cut a lightening bolt in two? How is that even possible? You're quick, I'll give you that, but no one's _that_ quick."

"It's not really a matter of how quick you are," he said evenly. "You just have to know where it's about to strike."

"Can you do that?" She scrutinized his face. "Can you tell where it's about to hit?"

He glanced at her briefly before looking out the front of the cell again. After a moment he pointed sharply. "See the tallest tree on that hill?"

She did. Just in time to see it engulfed in a bright white light. She flinched a little, but most of the fear had slipped away now, especially since she was crowded up against Kakashi – possibly the safest person in the world to be crowded up against at a time like this. "Amazing," she whispered through chattering teeth. "If I could move, I'd give you three points."

"Always an excuse with you, isn't there?"

"Look who's talking."

The storm didn't last long. Like nature's way of throwing a tantrum, it was sudden and violent, but over with in less than half an hour. Sakura didn't relinquish her hold on Kakashi though. It may have been because her life was still flashing brutally before her eyes in the form of wicked lightening strikes, but it was almost definitely because he was warm. It seemed illogical to give up her newfound security blanket in order to retreat to her hard, cold bunk.

"Are you ok now?" she heard Kakashi's voice rumble through his chest. "You're still shaking a little."

"Fine… just tired."

"Maybe you should go back to your bunk and try to get some sleep?" he suggested.

That was classic Kakashi. Always kind, always considerate… until you pissed him off and then he'd be your worst nightmare. Sakura knew a lot of her peers and even some of the newer genin were quite scared of him. He was a tough teacher and he failed so many students that he'd earned a reputation as a hard-hearted bastard.

In truth, Sakura didn't know of anyone more soft, or kind, or considerate as her former sensei.

"Can't I just stay here a while?" she asked sleepily. Her eyelids felt unbelievably heavy – she could hardly keep them open. And even though the tingle of adrenalin and fright still throbbed in her veins, Kakashi's encompassing warmth had seduced her body, lulling it into a blissful lethargy. She was tucked firmly against his side, and he would have to pry her away with a crowbar if he wanted to sleep tonight.

But he didn't contest. He just pulled her blanket more securely over her shoulders and shifted to put his feet up against the edge of her bunk.

Sleep was beckoning, and the steady rise and fall of Kakashi's chest was near hypnotic. She drowsily reached across him to rest her hand over his heart, wanting to feel it beating strong and sure beneath her palm.

It was faster than it had been in the storm.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she whispered, not entirely sure if she had the energy to even complete her thought.

"Mm?"

After a long, sleepy pause, she found the rest of her words. "You don't have to get me that present, you know," she sighed. "I know you don't like getting people presents. I was just teasing you."

She felt him laugh beneath her cheek. "I know."

"It wouldn't seem fair anyhow," she muttered. "Seeing as I'm getting your paycheck…"

"Save the gloating till after you win, Sakura."

She wanted to pull up the statistics of their current scores to point out that she practically _had _won already, but she was too tired to recall them right then. Instead she just murmured unintelligibly and shifted closer to her real-life teddy bear, unconsciously seeking his warmth and comfort.

With a sigh, she smiled as the last of her tension faded in the wake of the storm. "You smell nice," she murmured softly into his shirt.

His pulse leaped beneath her hand, but that was the only indication he'd reacted to her words. After moment he just shook his head. "Shut up, Sakura."

But by then she was already asleep.

* * *

TBC 


	5. Day Four

_A/N: And there will be a lemon. _

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Five

Day Four

* * *

When Kakashi awoke on his fourth morning in prison, he was faced with the dilemma he'd been dreading since day one. 

Morning wood.

The problem was complicated somewhat by the fact that Sakura had, at some point during the night, snuggled close enough to toss her legs across his lap and settle her head on his shoulder. Normally Kakashi could take care of his little morning problem by making a quick trip to the bathroom to relieve himself, but at the moment he wasn't sure how he could do that without jostling Sakura awake. And if she noticed the little problem in his pants (which wasn't so little at this point) she would undoubtedly be disgusted and/or embarrassed and maybe somehow blame herself.

So Kakashi remained perfectly still while he chewed over his options. He could sit there and just hope that it went away of its own accord before Sakura woke up… or he could put those ninja skills to some use for once and find a way to displace himself without alerting her. But Sakura was a ninja too – and not a half bad one. Maybe she wasn't quite at his level in terms of talent or experience, but like all ninjas she would have an ingrained instinct to come awake at the slightest sound, noise or touch that was suspicious. Dropping her of his lap was sure to trigger that reflex.

It didn't help that Kakashi didn't know quite what to do with his hands either. He'd woken up with one trapped behind Sakura's back and the other resting on her ankle, which probably wasn't very appropriate considering the circumstances. He carefully lifted his hand off her leg, leaving it hovering in the air above her as he tried to figure out the least offensive place to put it.

Sakura must have sensed the momentary loss of warmth since she suddenly began shifting closer, her leg flexing across his lap in the absence of his hand. Kakashi sucked in a breath as the back of her calf brushed unwittingly against the tent being pitched in his pants. Not her fault, he was sure. However, it didn't surprise him that even in her sleep Sakura sought to give him heart failure wherever possible.

He had to get her off his lap before she woke up completely and threw him against the cell bars so hard he would get sliced up into neat strips for suffering such a normal biological function. Somehow he doubted Sakura would see it that way. She would just think he was being a dirty old man getting turned on by cuddling up to a beautiful young girl.

She _was_ beautiful though…

But thoughts like that weren't helping _at all._

Using the highest level of stealth and strength he hadn't needed since his last S-class mission, Kakashi slid his free arm beneath her knees and began lifting her gently. Careful not to let her head fall back or jostle her in any way, Kakashi took a stop to the opposite bunk and lowered her to the foamy mattress ever so slowly. He stilled every time Sakura snuffled in her sleep, terrified she would wake up. But Sakura had been worn thin over the last few days and her exhaustion had pushed her into an unusually deep level of sleep. That was probably his fault. His snoring had been keeping her up most nights, and for that he felt a little bad.

Still… he couldn't help but feel she was being a bit oversensitive about it.

It took a painfully long time to lower Sakura back onto her bunk successfully without waking her. After he was sure she was content to carry on sleeping, he straightened with a soft sigh and moved to the toilet hidden away at the back of the cell.

It was difficult pissing out of a dick that absolutely refused to bend, as he'd discovered many, _many _years ago. He had to resort to bracing a hand against the wall and standing at an odd angle in order to aim correctly. But it solved the problem nonetheless.

When he turned to rinse his hands under the water tap, he started to see Sakura sitting up on her bunk, staring at him with a soft pink tinge to her cheeks.

"Um…" was the only thing that went through his mind and out his mouth.

Sakura's brow scrunched up. "Do you always pee like that?"

"No…" he said slowly. "Just… trying to inject some spontaneity into a mundane routine."

"Oh."

He partly wished he could just Shinju Zanshu no jutsu his way out of the awkward moment by having the ground literally open up and swallow him whole. But seeing as that would only make matters worse, he opted instead to just carry on washing his hands before moving to sit back on his bunk. "Had a good sleep?" he asked hopefully, eyeing the tally chart on the wall beside her head. He was still devastatingly far behind.

"Yeah, actually," she sighed, rubbing a hand through her mused hair. "I guess I was so tired not even your snores could wake me up."

"Maybe you're just getting used to me?" he pointed out.

"Yeah!" Her eyes were glittering with mischief and tone dripped with sarcasm. "The same way I'm getting used to the cockroaches under my kitchen sink!"

"Oh, come on, Sakura," he said, feigning hurt. "That's a little unfair on the cockroaches, don't you think?"

She laughed, pulling up her knees to her chest to wrap her arms around them. "I guess so. You're _much _more obnoxious."

She turned to look out of the cell then and the smile slipped from her face a little. Kakashi followed her gaze, wondering what she'd seen that had killed her cheer. He saw nothing but a gently steaming valley and a pale white sky. "What is it?" he asked.

"That's…" she began, then broke off with a sigh as she rested her cheek on her knees. "That's a really nice view."

Kakashi couldn't stop a small chuckled. "It is, isn't it?"

"This isn't so bad, you know?" she turned to him with a wry smile.

"Is Haruno Sakura actually beginning to enjoy her incarceration?" Kakashi mocked gently. "Or is she just beginning to chill out a little? I always thought you worked a little too hard for Tsunade. You need to take it easy… let life happen to you sometimes rather than chasing after it with a stick."

"Is that how you live life then? You just sit back and wait for it?" She cocked her head. "Sounds like sheer laziness if you ask me."

"That's because it is."

"…Ah."

Her stomach gave a rather loud and audible groan then, making her clutch it with a fiery blush. Kakashi looked around. "Is that thunder storm back again?"

"Shut up," she grunted, falling onto her side as if her hunger was so extreme she didn't even have the energy to sit up. "I'm going to file a complaint about that, by the way."

"About what?" He frowned.

"About the storm."

"Uh… well, you can try, but I don't think the climate can help it."

"No." She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm complaining to the guards. We're completely exposed to the elements up here. Has no one spared a thought to all those poor people who are trapped in these cells being drenched in snow and rain and ice all year round?"

"Yes, because convict comfort is always the top priority of the Konoha Correctional Facility for Incurably Criminal Criminals," Kakashi drawled, leaning back with his arms folded. "Don't bother, Sakura, they don't care. And anyway, I'm sure they have wards and jutsu up to protect prisoners from the worst weather effects."

"How can you be sure?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"It rained last night, and yet we're dry as a bone," he pointed out. "Right?"

Sakura's stomach gave another rumble, almost as if in answer. The girl in question made a soft, pained squeak and dropped her head against the mattress. "I guess…"

"You're hungry," he stated a little needlessly. "Don't worry. I think I smell the breakfast trolley coming."

"That isn't as reassuring as you think it is," she grumbled. "I can't believe that food hasn't killed us yet."

"There's still time," Kakashi intoned ominously. He rose to his feet and padded towards the bars to lean against them. There was no denying he was feeling a little hungry as well, though his stomach was less vocal about I, and for once he was actually looking forward to the prospect of some brown gruel for breakfast…

…as opposed to _gray _gruel.

Shikamaru was looking his usual apathetic and put-upon self as he arrived in front of their cell with the gruel laden trolley in toe. As he handed them two bowls of decidedly blue slop, Kakashi couldn't decide if they'd lucked out or not.

Depending on the first taste… probably not.

Shikamaru didn't move off straight away after handing them the bowls. He picked up a clipboard hooked over the trolley handles and leafed through a few of the papers attached to it, a scowl pinching between his eyes. "Cell 3R," he began, making Kakashi and Sakura pause in their attempts to not gag on their food. "You're on laundry duty today."

"Wha…?" Sakura's face screwed in confusion. Kakashi just frowned.

"Laundry duty," Shikamaru put the clipboard back. "It's on the prisoner duty roster. Each cell takes it in turns to handle the daily washing responsibilities and today just so happens to be your turn."

"We only just arrived," Kakashi told him. "Can't we be exempt?"

"Everyone must pull their own weight," Shikamaru said with a shrug.

"I've seen prison movies before," Sakura put her bowl down to go stand beside Kakashi. "I thought the whole duty roster stuff was voluntary. We don't have to do it if we don't want to, and if we do we get rewards and stuff."

Shikamaru snorted. "Heh, like we're really giving you guys a choice."

"Then what rewards do we get?" she demanded.

"We keep feeding you? I don't know." Shikamaru began pushing his trolley along to the next cell. "Someone'll come by at twelve to escort you to the washhouse."

The silence in cell 3R after he'd gone was palpable. Sakura huffed quietly, glaring at a point on the distant horizon. "Want I should give Shikamaru a tally?"

"It can't be that bad," Kakashi said, musing aloud. "Think of this as the compulsory day out of our package holiday."

Sakura had to refrain herself from tipping the rest of her breakfast over his head.

* * *

The laundry room was quite possibly one of the most depressing rooms Sakura had ever been in. It stank like the old academy locker rooms, with the pungent odor of old socks and sweat encrusted clothes hanging rife in the air. Dividing the room into three were two rows of industrial sized washing machines with a handful of even bigger tumble driers against the back wall. 

But the biggest horror of all in that room was the enormous pile of laundry stacked up by the door.

Sakura gaped at it shamelessly the moment she entered. The thought of putting her hands anywhere _near_ that stinking pile of clothes was triggering the start of a very serious and traumatic phobia.

Kakashi cleared his throat and reached over to tip a finger under her chin and closed her mouth.

The guard who'd escorted them gave them the low-down. "Two caps of washing powder per load, and fill the machines until they're full. Saves water. The baskets in the corner are there for you to put the folded clothes into when you're finished. Is everything in order, Kakashi-senpai?"

Sakura glanced at the young man shrewdly. _Senpai?_ She noticed he was looking at Kakashi I a particularly reverent way.

"Sure, Kotetsu-kun," Kakashi said mildly. "You can go now."

"I'm… not supposed to leave you."

"But you're going to anyway, right?"

"…right…"

Looking distinctly uneasy, or as if someone else was controlling his feet, Kotetsu-kun left the room and shut the door behind him. Sakura transferred her gaze to Kakashi. "Someone you know?" she guessed.

"From ANBU." He shrugged. "Bit of a kiss-ass, if you know what I mean."

With a sigh, Sakura rolled her shoulders and approached the pile of laundry with great caution, as if it was some awful beast that would rear up and attack her if she made any sudden movements. The smell grew worse the closer she got, making her resort to breathing through her mouth. "Aren't they going to give us gloves and safety goggles for this?" she asked Kakashi. "I'm sure this is a biohazard."

"I'm sure it is," Kakashi picked up a pair of plain gray uniform pants that held some interesting stains. "Just… hold everything at arm's length and don't touch your face until you've washed your hands."

Sakura complied, picking up the cleanest shirt she could find with her thumb and forefinger to carry it over to the enormous door of the nearest washing machine. "Wow, I could do with one of these," Sakura cooed, sticking her head inside. "You could drown an elephant in this."

"Do you often get the urge to drown elephants?"

"No. But I figure if it's big enough to fit an elephant inside, it's big enough to fit Naruto and all his kage bunshin."

"I'm guessing it's because this is the laundry for the entire prison," Kakashi said, dumping an armful of clothing into his own vast drum. "Not just the detention level that we're on."

"How big is the prison underneath us then?" Sakura asked him.

"Big. We have a hundred and eight-two cells on our level and roughly eighteen hundred underground…. so the detention facility is only ten percent the size of the main prison. And if every cell has at least two inmates, that means we're doing the laundry of over three thousand, six hundred people. Give or take a few."

Sakura stiffened. "I'm going to file a complaint when we get out of here."

"Go for it," Kakashi said flatly. "Until then, could you carry more than one at a time? It'll take all week at your rate."

Sakura upped her carry load to two at a time, seemingly oblivious to Kakashi's sigh. "We could end up down there, you know," she told him. "If Tsunade doesn't get back and that guy is still adamant we willfully killed his daughter, we could seriously end up down there for months. Maybe even years."

"Eh," Kakashi shrugged uncaringly. "It won't happen. And if it does I'll just escape."

"Is it even escapable down there?" Sakura asked with a frown, pausing to wipe something sticky off her hands on her shirt front. "I know you said you're a regular Houdini when it comes to prisons, but Konoha prison is supposed to be as inescapable as Kumogakure."

"Sure, but that's only if you haven't spent half your life learning all the nooks and crannies and weaknesses it has," Kakashi said smiling at her. "I estimate I could probably break out in five hours or less."

Sakura frowned. It was alright for him. He'd probably been down there countless times delivering prisoners or torturing them for ANBU. He probably knew the Konoha prison like the back of his hand. Sakura on the other hand… "What about me?" she asked. "I don't know anything about this prison. I'd _never_ escape."

Kakashi bundled another armful of washing into his machine. "You think I'd leave you behind?" he asked, amused. "Don't worry, Sakura. If worst came to the worst, I'd spring you free too. And then we'd have to run away to Suna like you said, or at least find a remote little farmhouse some place to spend the rest of our lives pretending to be a happily married farming couple to hide from the tracker-nin."

Sakura's laugh was sudden and uncontrollable. The image of Kakashi giving up his ninja ways and donning a straw hat was too much for her to bear. Then, quite abruptly, her laugh died and she paled. "Oh my god, that could actually happen," she gasped out.

"And we'll get some chickens, and some cows…" Kakashi continued.

"Oh… god!"

"We'd have to get a horse or a donkey, of course, to help us cart all our eggs and cabbages to market and maybe some pigs for – Sakura – stop hyperventilating. I'm only joking."

"Sorry," she wheezed, so distracted by her terrible image of the future that she forgot her cleanliness hang-ups and began hauling laundry across the room by the bundle.

It took almost an hour to fill all the machines up, and by then they were only halfway through the Laundry Pile of D00m. There was nothing to do then but sit back and wait for the washing cycle to finish before moving on to the next stage. Kakashi took up vigilance on top of the line of seven foot tall humming machines, eyeing the ceiling from his recumbent loll. Sakura pulled herself up next to his feet, dangling her legs over the side.

"This is a bit like those beds you get in those cheesy motels you see on television," she said absently as the vibrations from the machines rattled up her spine.

"Is everything you know learnt from the television?" he asked drolly.

"What, as opposed to everything _you _know learnt from a pervy book written by a pervy old toad?" she shot back.

"True."

From her vantage point on top of the machines, Sakura noticed something she had missed before. "Hey… there's a pile of guard uniforms over there," she said, pointing to the small mound of charcoal gray tunics and pants hidden behind the prisoner uniforms. "Are we meant to wash those?"

"I suppose," Kakashi sighed, closing his eyes.

"And what about those flags?" she asked, eyeing the half-dozen red sheets marked with the Konoha leaf sitting on a chair, also previously hidden by the prisoner uniform pile.

"They got wet in the storm last night," Kakashi said. "We'll just dry them off."

Sakura hummed her agreement and stretched out on her side to will away the time. Silence fell between them again, as it had so many times over the past few days. It was like a comforting blanket of peace and quiet that she'd never really had with anyone else. There were never comfortable silences between Ino and herself, as Ino filled any gaps in conversation with incessant chatter whether Sakura was listening to her not. The only silences they knew off were the ones that followed awkward arguments.

Sakura couldn't sit quietly with Naruto and just revel in the peace of the moment either. Once he got her alone he always talked about dates and holding hands even though she knew he only really pestered her out of habit these days. And the idea of enjoying a quiet moment with Sasuke was just laughable. The only silences that came between them were the awkward ones where Sasuke would virtually ignore her presence while Sakura tried to think of something smart and witty to say that would make his jaw drop and floor him with the realization that she was smart and funny and _totally_ right for him. But that had yet to happen, so until it did… it was just awkward.

But with Kakashi, the moment could stretch into hours and she would never feel the need to cram conversation into the silence. It was easy and companionable, not like the awkward stilts with Sasuke or the mindless twittering with Ino. With Kakashi, everything was calm and quiet and always in control. Safe.

Sakura sat up with a sigh and began prodding at Kakashi's toes. The man didn't react beyond a faint twitch of his foot. "You have really dirty feet," she told him helpfully.

"I imagine you do as well."

Sakura pulled her own foot up into her lap for inspection. Her sole was a near filthy black. "Nope," she said. "Clean as a whistle."

"Sure." He didn't sound too believing.

Reclining on her hands, Sakura released a soft sigh and closed her eyes, listening to the sloshes and clicks of the machines beneath her. With the drums spinning, a hot and heady scent of soap was beginning to permeate the air, covering the stench of dirty clothes. Sakura wasn't sure the soapy smell was any better than the old clothes smell, but at least it was cleaner.

She hoped she'd never have to endure another episode of prison laundry in her life. But if the hearing went badly and she wound up in one of the underground cells…?

Feeling troubled, Sakura crawled around Kakashi until she was lying on her belly next to him, looking up at his profile. From this side she couldn't see his scar, and with his eyes closed she felt free to let her gaze roam the straight lines and angles of his face.

She could tell that in his youth he'd probably been beautiful and boyish looking the way Sasuke still was (unless he had worn a mask back then too). But there was no softness to his face now. Unlike Naruto and Sasuke and all the other boys she knew, Kakashi was a man in his prime with features that were defined and mature. Boyishness and beauty had hardened into something purely male and adult… and frankly the stubble along his jaw made him look like some kind of dashing adventure hero (who would much rather stay at home and read a book than go off chasing villains).

Sakura wondered what kissing a man with stubble would be like. Would the scratchiness be off-putting? Or would she even notice it at all?

But that wasn't what she'd wanted to ask him.

"Kakashi-sensei?" she asked cautiously.

"Mm?" He didn't even flicker an eyelid at her.

"If this hearing goes badly," she began slowly. "If we wind up being convicted of murder or manslaughter or whatever… what will actually happen to us?"

Kakashi's right eye slid open slowly and he regarded the ceiling. "I quite like the farm idea myself."

"I'm being serious." She nudged his side with a knuckled, making him wince. "What'll happen to us?"

A soft sigh escaped his lips and he rolled over onto his side to face her, hand propping up his head. His frame was looming compared to hers, and Sakura wondered at the fluttering sensation in her belly as his dark eye roamed her face and shoulders for a long moment before speaking.

"We're in the kind of profession where people die. A lot," he said. "Mistakes happen, and the council understands that. Even if they don't believe us when we say she was already dead when we arrived on the scene, they would at least accept that we didn't intend to kill the girl. They know we had no reason to. But the problem is that the girl's father commands a lot of wealth and influence over the council. Not only are they friends, but Miyazaki is one of the biggest lenders to Konoha. He's one of the few people ensuring we're getting the funds for new equipment and facilities, which we desperately need since Orochimaru's attack left us virtually crippled. The council is desperate to restore Konoha's reputation as one of the best, most powerful villages in the world, and if putting two innocent ninja behind bars is the price to pay, they won't hesitate to accommodate Miyazaki's demands."

"Shit," Sakura said, feeling sick.

"So… if Miyazaki is still adamant by Sunday that we're guilty as sin, there isn't much we'd be able to do about it," he explained evenly. "We'll be taken underground and separated properly. There'll be women in the main prison, segregated from the men. We'd probably never see each other down there."

Sakura frowned, staring hard at a black scratch on the white plastic machine top a few inches from her head. "I don't think I want that."

"Yes, it would make it difficult for the both of us to escape together," he sighed. "I'm sure we'd manage though."

Sakura crossed her arms and rested her chin on them. "Would you really come for me?" she asked.

"We're teammates," he said with a shrug, intending that to be all the explanation she needed. "And our mission isn't over until we hand over our report, so technically we're still in this together."

"I guess." She gave him a dry smile. "Still… I don't think I'd like to be put with anyone else now."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "I thought you couldn't stand me?"

"Just barely. But more importantly, I think you're one of the few people on this planet who can put up with me for extended periods of time," she said, laughing.

Kakashi didn't find it as amusing. "You think you're difficult to get along with?" he asked.

She pulled a mild face. "It doesn't matter. Forget I mentioned it." And before he had a chance to open his mouth to pursue the subject, she suddenly grinned and drummed her hands against the top of the washing machine. "Guess what tomorrow is."

Thrown for a loop, he only blinked. "Friday?"

"Well, yes," she sighed patiently. "But it also happens to be my birthday."

"Ahh," Kakashi murmured with dawning comprehension and rolled onto his back again to close his eyes. "It is, isn't it?"

"Are you going to sing me Happy Birthday?" she asked sweetly.

"And why would I do that?" He scowled at the ceiling.

"Because it's my birthday and no one else is going to, and someone _has_ to sing it or else I'll have bad luck for the rest of the year," she explained patiently.

Kakashi wasn't even remotely stirred. "I don't sing."

"You hum, though," she pointed out. "So I know you can carry a tune. What's so bad about singing me a little song?"

"I don't sing," he said again, in the same blunt '_forget it' _tone.

Sakura gave him a sour glare. "Minus fifteen points for not humoring the birthday girl."

"Fair price." He shrugged.

A half-hearted patter of laughter escaped Sakura's throat. "You're a grump, Kakashi-sensei," she informed him as she lay her cheek down against the surface beneath her. The steady vibrations were surprisingly soothing on her tense body, and the overall headiness of the room was making her feel drowsy.

Reaching out, she patted a hand gently against Kakashi's chest. "Kakashi-sensei?"

After a long, drawn-out pause she heard a soft, "Hm?"

But by then she'd forgotten what she'd wanted to say. She gave up trying to remember and just sighed, enjoying the drowsy lethargy that had crept over her. After so many sleepless nights and lazy, boring days, she was beginning to turn into a vegetable who had nothing but sleep on the mind. Her fingers curled absently into the material of Kakashi's shirt, but he didn't seem to mind. In fact, after a moment his hand came up and covered hers, tucking his own fingers beneath her palm. Sakura opened heavy-lidded eyes long enough to blink at him once, twice, but Kakashi was the same as before with his eyes closed and breathing even.

Sakura mentally shrugged it off and let her head drop back to the enameled surface beneath her.

After a few minutes she was already being lulled to sleep. If it wasn't for the loud clicks and beeps of the machines as they finished their cycles almost simultaneously, Sakura would have been happily snoring away.

Both Sakura and Kakashi sat up and dropped back down to the floor a little reluctantly. "You shift the clean stuff into the driers. I'll handle the rest of Mount Doom over there," Kakashi told her.

Grateful that she wouldn't have to handle any more crusty, stained and suspiciously smelling clothes, Sakura began carrying out his orders. Her back ached from carrying the heavy, wet loads of clothes across the room, and her fingers were beginning to prune, but it was better than what Kakashi had so graciously taken charge of.

When Sakura had finished transporting all the clean clothes to the driers, she headed for the pile of red flags that had been soaked in the storm last night, intending to put them in their own separate drum. She doubted they were particularly color fast.

Kakashi paused in his loading of the washing machines to watch her gathering up the large red sheets. She felt his gaze and looked up at him questioningly. "What?" she asked.

He looked at the washing machines and then back at her. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

She stared between him and the washing machines, trying to figure out what was so significant. Then she looked at the bundle of red flags in her arms and it finally dawned on her. "Oh…" she whispered. "We can't do that! They'd kill us!"

"It'll ensure they never ask us to do their washing ever again," he pointed out with an expression that clearly enticed her with a 'you know you want to' quirk to his lips.

She did want to. She really wanted to. There was a secret, despicable side to Sakura that she'd been trying to bury ever since her mother had told her that good girl's didn't make mud pies or eat worms (after she'd caught Sakura doing just that as a toddler). It was the side of her that was far too easily amused by the slapstick comedy on television, as well as all the naughty pranks that Naruto used to pull – and still pulled occasionally.

The idea of mixing reds with slightly off-whites was dangling before her like a deliciously juicy apple before a starving girl.

She really didn't stand a chance of resisting.

"I didn't think you'd sink to the levels of a practical joker," she said, handing him half her bundle of flags to start sticking them in the machines along with the prison laundry.

"This isn't a joke," he told her seriously. "We're making a stand for our rights as wrongly convicted innocents."

"I see."

"And it's going to be fucking awesome."

* * *

For some reason, the police chief in charge of the prison didn't find it quite as funny. Kotetsu-kun, who'd been waiting outside the door even since Kakashi had sent him out, nearly had an epileptic fit the moment Sakura emerged wearing a freshly laundered (though still appallingly fitted) uniform that was an unmistakable baby pink. Kakashi followed a few moments later wearing very much the same color. 

Needless to say, there was a lot of shrieking and crying and then Kakashi and Sakura were promptly frogmarched off to the police chief's office where there was more shrieking and crying.

"What the hell were you thinking!" wailed Motoki, the head of the police. "You've stained over a thousand uniforms! Do you know what you've done?"

But his outrage was somewhat diminished by the fact that he couldn't quite look Kakashi in the eye. As a former member of the ANBU, the police chief had probably worked with the copy ninja at some point, or at least worked below him.

"I think it's rather fetching," Sakura told him pleasantly, stretching her arms out as if to model her new uniform. "Don't you think, Motoki-san?"

"Says the girl with pink hair!" Motoki snarled back, before transferring his ire to Kakashi's chest. "And you! A grown man wearing pink? Have you no shame, Kakashi-sen – uh – Kakashi?"

"I'm comfortable with the way I look." Kakashi just shrugged.

"It suits you," Sakura told him. "You should consider wearing it more often, Kakashi-sensei."

"Thank you, Sakura-chan."

Police chief Motoki just collapsed into the chair behind his desk and sighed like a broken man. "Contact our suppliers," he said weakly to his chunin aid. "We need to order new uniforms."

Frankly Sakura thought it was about time that they were sending for new uniforms. Judging by the state of the ones they'd washed, these clothes had been worn ragged by daily wear for _decades_ most likely. Though they were mostly gray (and pink) now, there had probably been a time when they had all been white.

"And you two," Motoki addressed them. "You shall have no supper tonight, nor any other meal for that matter, until Sunday."

Not a huge loss, she decided. If he'd really wanted to inflict a effective punishment he would have deprived both her and Kakashi of hair toggles and Icha Icha Exchange respectively. But Sakura kept her mouth shut. It wasn't like she wanted to give the man any ideas…

"Take them back to their cell," Motoki ordered his aid wearily.

The aid marched them out of the office and down the hall to where he then passed them off to a waiting Shikamaru.

"Nice outfits," he told them dryly as he led them away.

Back in the relatively familiar setting of their cell, Sakura sat down on her bunk and began cracking up with laughter. Kakashi, not quite prone to such violent outbursts of emotion, confined himself to just a mild, amused smile.

"I can't believe we did that," she squeaked between laughs. "And I can't believe you're wearing pink!"

"It's a good color," he said, looking far too pleased with himself.

This only served to make Sakura break down even further, laughing so hard that she'd been reduced to silent shaking and faint gasping. "Ohh – ow – my stomach!" She giggled some more.

"I'm surprised you went for it so easily," Kakashi remarked, watching her rolling around on her bunk. "I thought you were a goody two-shoes?"

Sakura's sniggers calmed somewhat, though she couldn't seem to wipe the grin off her face. She looked across at him with a flushed face and out of breathe. "I'm not that good," she confided, with a light wrinkle of her nose. "And what about you? I would have thought this kind of joke was a bit too low-brow for your tastes."

He smiled. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity," he admitted. "It's their own fault. They shouldn't have put a bunch of red flags in a room with twelve washing machines and two idiots."

This had Sakura laughing all over again. "You're a closet prankster!" she giggled.

"Nothing closet about it," he said, putting his feet up on the edge of her bunk. "I was a terror when I was a kid. If you thought Naruto was bad, you should have seen what I did."

Sakura sat upright in a flash, ears pricked and waiting. "What did you do?" she asked eagerly.

His lips quirked in amusement at her keen interest. "I used to hammer nails through the underside of the teachers seats at the academy so that when they sat down…" He let her draw her own ending to that tale. "And then there was my father. He was my most frequent victim – or at least his hair was. White is a fantastic color, you know? Very susceptible to dye. And there were some weeks when he would wake up with a new hairstyle every morning."

Sakura laughed in delight. "That's terrible! Your poor father!" She had a hard time imagining this man to be any sort of practical joker. She associated that kind of behavior with someone like Naruto… and Kakashi was far too serious, quiet and reserved to be such a terror. "I guess you grew out of it."

He stared at the wall behind her for a moment. "Yeah… well, you can't stay a kid forever." He seemed to shake himself out of whatever memory he'd been trapped in to give her a benign smile. "Anyway, I'm sure everyone's a bit like that in their academy days. Weren't you?" Then he tilted his head up thoughtfully, gaze still fixed on her. "Or were you always the good and quiet type?"

Sakura's smile faded a little and she looked away from him as if he'd reminded her of something unpleasant. "No," she said a little heavily. "I was always a bitch."

Kakashi's eyebrows rose a fraction in surprise. "I… see?"

Sakura seemed reluctant to say much more than that. She stared at the back wall of the cell, picking at the chipped polish on her toenails. Then suddenly she began talking again, though her eyes remained averted from his. "Have you ever sat in on any academy classes?" she asked, frowning.

"A few times." He wondered where she was going with this.

"Have you ever noticed that there's always at least one horribly shallow, two-faced girl sitting at the back making nasty comments about the unpopular kids while she bats her eyelashes at the popular ones?"

Kakashi inhaled slowly. "I know the type," he said softly.

"Well, that was me." She grimaced with a kind of embarrassed self-loathing. "Ehh… but that was a long time ago. I don't know if I've changed all that much or not. I'm sorry, have I just hijacked the conversation? I think your anecdote about your academy days was funnier."

He smiled softly. "Sakura," he began with a sigh. "Everyone's a bit of an idiot when they're young. You weren't a bad person; you just didn't know any better. But you do now, and that's all that matters. You're a nice girl, Sakura, don't ever doubt that."

Sakura looked at her toes through lowered lashes. "I'm not that nice," she said quietly.

"What makes you say that?" he asked with a light frown.

"Because nice girls don't…" She flushed a faint pink and ducked her head into her arms. "Oh, never mind."

"What?" he prodded.

"Nothing."

This was the second time she'd dodged answering a question. The first time had been when he'd asked her why she'd thought he was the only one able to stand her for long periods of time. And now he could detect a hint of shame in her voice. He couldn't say for sure exactly what was making her reluctant to talk, but he knew there was something. He wasn't called a genius for no reason.

But it clearly wasn't something she wanted to explain to him as she kept her lips tightly sealed. Kakashi didn't mind that much. Everyone was entitled to their own little secrets and insecurities and it was no place of his to pry.

Sakura suddenly scowled at him. "Don't you find me just a little annoying?"

He stared at her, confused.

"You gave me minus forty-five points," she reminded him.

"Mostly in self-defense," he said quickly. "I wouldn't say you were _annoying_, exactly. You're just a willful, opinionated person who suffers no fools. That's all." He wondered if this had anything to do with what he'd said a few nights ago that had sparked off the whole tally system to begin with.

"That's all?" she echoed. "What does _that _mean?"

"Those aren't necessarily bad qualities in a person," he said with a wry smile. "I quite admire them actually. I'd rather know a girl who sticks up for herself and speaks her mind than lets people wipe their feet on her. It's a sign of intelligence."

"Yeah, but boys don't like smart girls," she said with a touch of a scowl.

"Boys are stupid like that," he agreed. "Intelligence intimidates them."

"Do I intimidate you?" she asked, smiling slightly because of the absurdity of the very idea.

"No," he said shortly. "Because I'm smarter than you."

"Modest too."

"Thanks."

Sakura released a pent up sigh and stretched her legs across the gap between the bunks to rest her feet against his the way his feet rested against hers. She turned her head to look out the cell at the valley and the dimming light. The clouds were too thick to see the sun. "It's getting dark," she commented.

Kakashi watched her face, noticing the poor light had washed the color from her skin and hair, making her look even more wan and pale than she was already. She was troubled. But Kakashi couldn't quite identify what about their conversation had brought on such a change in her mood. There was something she wasn't telling him…

Sakura's eyes drifted shut and her furrowed brow smoothed out as she relaxed back against the wall. But the moment Kakashi's hand closed around her foot, his palm and fingers nearly burning against her cold appendage, Sakura's eyes slowly widened to regard him.

"You're a good person, Sakura," he told her softly, rubbing his fingers against her chilled skin. "Trust me."

A slow smile spread across her face. "I trust you."

"Good." Without further ado, he tickled his fingers across the sole of her foot. Sakura reacted with a cry and a laugh, drawing her legs up tight to her chest to escape him. She tried to look affronted, but her giggles were too strong. "That was for agreeing too fast," he told her. "And why are your feet so cold?"

"Bad circulation," she chirped, holding out her hands to him. "Cold hands too."

He took her offered hands into his own, frowning as he felt the cool fingers under his warm ones. "You poor thing," he said with mock sympathy. "You must get terrible cramps."

"I do," she nodded eagerly. "All the time and they can be really painful. But I don't tell anyone because, you know, I'm brave like that. No one really appreciates how hard it is to be me."

"Woe is you," he deadpanned.

"Exactly!" she laughed.

He'd been holding her hands for a little too long. They both looked down at where they were joined, and suddenly Kakashi gave a small sheepish laugh, rubbed some extra warmth into her cold fingers and then released her.

"You'll be alright," he told her, not sure whether he was referring to her cold hands and foot or her sensitivity over whether or not she was a good person.

She smiled at him warmly. "With you here, sure."

That smile could do funny things to his heart, he realized, feeling his chest constrict slightly. The sooner they were out of this prison, the better. Kakashi didn't think he poor heart could take many more of these little shocks.

* * *

TBC 


	6. Day Five

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Six

Day Five

* * *

Sleep, when Sakura ever managed to obtain it, was a wonderful thing. She'd never quite appreciated how free one could be within a dream. Her mortal body could be locked up in a piddling little cell, but her sleeping mind could take her anywhere she wanted, all the while making her forget where she was and what was really happening. 

On her fifth night in prison, Sakura was taken to an open field. It was a lovely warm day. Everything looked as if it should smell sweet and dry with a low sun spreading gold light across the vast plane of rapeseed that she stood in. In the distance droned some kind of motor, intermittent and ragged, but too far away for Sakura to take any notice. The scarecrow standing in the middle of the field had caught her attention, and it was to this that Sakura headed.

As she drew up alongside the scarecrow, she realized it wasn't a scarecrow at all, but a rather troubled Kakashi. "Yo," he said. Straw was coming out of the seams of his clothes and he seemed to be pinned up against a pole, arms strung up beside him. "Don't mind lending me a hand do you? I can't seem to get down."

"You need to stay up there," she said, shaking her head. "Who else will scare away the crows?"

"They don't need me to protect them anymore," he replied, swinging slightly in the breeze. "I haven't seen any crows in a long time. I doubt they're coming back."

"They might."

"The seeds have already grown up, look," he said, pointing with a hand that she was sure had been tied down a moment ago. "They're practically full grown now. They don't need me."

"I'm sure they'd still like having you around for comfort."

"You're not letting me down, are you?"

"Not yet. I'm not ready."

"Oh." Scarecrow Kakashi sighed. "Well, thanks anyway. Also, I'd appreciate it if you were ready some time before that thing gets here."

"What thing?" Sakura asked. The distant rumbling drone was getting louder, making her feel weak and detached from the field she was standing in, as if something was pulling her away.

"That thing behind you," he said flatly. "You might want to look out."

Sakura turned, and finally saw the source of the terrible noise. The huge mechanical monster seemed to loom out of nowhere, full of gnashing rotary teeth that cut down the yellow flowered plants, coming down right on top of her. She screamed.

And scrambled upright on her bunk, breathing hard. The horrible noise of the harvester still wrung in her ears and it took her nearly a full minute to realize that the reason why the sound wasn't fading was because it was coming from Kakashi's bunk.

Sighing out of what was probably both relief and irritation, she kicked off her blanket and stood up to lean over Kakashi. He was a neat sleeper, lying on his back with one arm behind his head and the other hand clasping the blanket to his chest (as opposed to Naruto who was a messy sleeper with limbs that sprawled every which way without consideration for the poor clot sleeping next to him). His mouth was shut and his head was turned ever so slightly toward the wall, and in the dim light of the early morning she could see his face was lax and unguarded.

Pretty much like it was during the day, come to think of it.

Smiling slightly, she pulled the blanket out of the clutch of his hand and pulled it higher to cover the lower half of his face. Kakashi stirred, opening his eyes a fraction to look up at her as she tucked the blanket around his shoulders, though she knew he wasn't really awake. After a moment he seemed to judge her to be unthreatening and his eyes gradually slid shut again as sleep reclaimed him.

The snoring had stopped.

Feeling an odd pang of affection for him (that was probably only due to sheer relief that the noise had finally stopped), Sakura reached out and ran the tips of her fingers lightly over his hair. She didn't dare run them any deep than that, as it was sure to wake him up. Kakashi-sensei really was much cuter when he slept, she thought. Especially when he didn't have morning wood.

Poor man. He'd looked as if he had wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up when he'd caught her staring at his strange peeing stance. She'd been able to feign sleep until that point, knowing perfectly well that the cell was far too small to hide something _that_ big, and so had simply decided to keep pretending to be unconscious and unaware until Kakashi woke up and dealt with the problem with minimal embarrassment to all parties. But his posture over the toilet had just captivated her enough to forget that it was perhaps a tad bit too early to wake up. She couldn't tell from the alarmed look he gave her whether he realized she knew what had happened or if he thought she was too innocent to figure it out.

She'd played the innocent card, mostly to spare his embarrassment over perfectly normal bodily functions. That, and she'd been a little embarrassed herself. The moment she'd woken up and felt that _thing_ prodding against her leg, she'd been mortified that she'd unwittingly given him sexy dreams about her. But when he'd muttered something about eggplants, she decided that couldn't have been the case (or that he just had very strange fetishes, which she wouldn't put past any reader of Icha Icha).

But if he thought that she could grow up with two of Konoha's rowdiest boys and not be aware of the morning trouble suffered by most males, then he had another thing coming. How many times had she shared a tent with Naruto and Sasuke and been woken up the next morning by a sleepy grunt of, "Shit, I'm hard." A grunt which was usually followed by a squall of "OW!" when Sakura smacked someone (usually Naruto) for forgetting they were in the presence of a lady.

After one last check to make sure Kakashi was securely tucked in, she retreated to her bunk and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Outside the dim sky was overcast with a deep gray covering of cloud, and on the wooden walkway before the cell were the first telltale dots of rain. It looked like it was going to be a rotten day.

Sakura sighed and closed her eyes. "Happy Birthday to me."

* * *

Bizarrely, when Kakashi woke up he could hear the rain, but when he opened his eyes he realized the sun was shining as well. 

"Weird weather…" he grunted to himself as he sat up and rubbed a hand through his hair.

His throat wasn't as sore this morning as it usually was, meaning he probably hadn't been snoring last night. That might have also explained why Sakura looked so blissful in her sleep. The birthday girl was once again doing her uncanny impression of a cat, stretched out on her bunk with her arms dangling over the edges, a content dead-to-the-world snuffle dropping from her parted lips. Lips so pink and soft they looked practically edible.

Kakashi forced his eyes away from her sleeping form lest that one debatably innocent thought led to something else. He picked up his book from the floor and leafed to his favorite chapter – the one in which the main character had been imprisoned in the palace dungeons, feeling alone and desolate, until his red-haired, green-eyed love interest dropped by to pay him a 'visit'.

And then proceeded to have ramping good sex with him.

The irony was of course completely lost on Kakashi.

After an hour or so, Shikamaru arrived with the breakfast trolley and an umbrella over his head to keep off the rain. "Yo," he said to Kakashi upon seeing he was awake, and then continued on to the next cell without stopping.

Ah… of course, he'd almost forgotten. They'd been sentence to two days without food, hadn't they? It wouldn't have been so bad if he and Sakura hadn't kept turning their noses up at the meals before. He was already running low on energy by now, and two days fasting would probably wear him down completely. Fortunately, their hearing was also in two days. Should they be released, the first thing he would do would be to find the nearest restaurant and refuse to leave until he could eat no more (which, unluckily for the restaurant owners, could be an awful long time as he had an extraordinarily fast metabolism).

Sakura on the other hand was young and probably didn't have the experience of going without food for weeks the way he did. As far as he knew, she'd only ever gone one day without anything to eat, and that had been the day she'd had her appendix removed. They'd all visited her in hospital – Kakashi albeit after visiting hours because he'd forgotten the original time he was supposed to be there – and he'd handed her a box of chocolates, informing her that she wasn't to eat any until Tsunade said it was ok. Nevertheless, he was sure that the moment he walked out the door, half the packet had then been stuffed in her mouth.

And if Sakura had trouble going without food for one day, he had to wonder exactly how bad she would be if that period was extended a little.

He had his answer when she woke up.

She'd roused as she normally did, stretching the pops and cracks out of her joints with a wide yawn and peered around muzzily with sleepy eyes. Then all of a sudden she reached towards the floor and toppled off her bunk with a grunt.

Kakashi lowered his book. "What was that?"

Sakura pushed herself upright, looking distinctly more awake now. "Huh," she muttered, shaking her head. "I could have sworn I just saw a plate of ramen down there…"

Ah. So the delusions had started.

"Hungry, huh?" he said, pretty sure he was stating the obvious.

Sakura looked at him, her eyes flicking over him as if assessing his nutritional worth. "Mm," she admitted tonelessly, then retreated back onto her bunk, lest she start chewing on his arm. "Must be if even ramen is beginning to look attractive."

She broke off with a yawn and a stretch before giving him a sleep sort of smile. "Well?" she asked.

Kakashi blinked. "Well what?"

"What is today?"

Ah. He nodded his head in dawning realization. "Ah, yes. It's your birthday isn't it?" he gave her a mild smile. "And stop grinning at me like that – I am _not_ going to sing you Happy Birthday."

He smile slipped and she gave him a pitying look. "Poor Kakashi-sensei. He doesn't know the words, does he?"

"That is not why I won't-"

"You don't have to be embarrassed," she said kindly. "I'll sing it with you."

He gave her a flat look. "No deal."

"You're coming awfully close to _fubaring_ my birthday completely," she warned him. "Not only was it your stupid mission that got me locked up in here, now you're refusing to wish me a Happy Birthday?"

"Happy Birthday," he interjected abruptly. "There. Ok?"

"But I want it in song!" she protested miserably.

"You wouldn't thank me for it when your ears start bleeding halfway through the first verse," he said patiently.

She sighed, clearly put out. "It would be worth it, just to hear you sing."

"Look." He snapped Icha Icha Exchange shut. "I'm not going to sing for you. I will do anything else you want me to, but I – do – not – sing."

The dawning expression of mischief that crossed Sakura's face made him wonder if just put his foot in his mouth again. "Anything?" she asked coyly.

Had she been older, had she been less familiar to him and had she been less innocent, Kakashi might have construed that as some kind of kinky suggestion. But he knew Sakura far too well to miss her true intention. "Yes, anything," he amended, "that doesn't involve singing, dancing, undressing or anything any sane person wouldn't do in public."

"Well, there is _one _thing," she said, biting her lip and twiddling her thumbs. "I guess I'm starting to get withdrawal symptoms because I've been in here so long and haven't been able to do it with anyone…"

Kakashi stared at her. "Do… what, exactly?"

She worried her lip bashfully. "Well, it's not something you'd do in public anyhow. We normally keep it to the bedroom."

His mouth was dry. It was _definitely _dry. "We?" he echoed weakly.

"I mostly do it with Ino, you see." She blushed delicately. "We just kind of experiment mostly and I've never really done it with a man before, so you see I… um… Kakashi-sensei, your nose is bleeding."

"It does that sometimes." He quickly wiped away the thin trickle of red forming above his lip with the back of his hand. "You were saying?"

"So would you let me do it with you?" Sakura asked sweetly, looking earnestly up at him.

"Um…" he replied in what had to be one of the more intelligent responses flopping around his stalling brain.

"Just lean forward and close your eyes, ok?"

* * *

Naruto was tired and more than slightly dirty. There was sand in all sorts of unmentionable places and he hadn't changed his clothes in almost two days. This normally wouldn't have affected his mood so much, but the fact that he was returning to Konoha Correctional Facility for Incurably Criminal Criminals with less than great news was a bit of a downer. Mostly because he knew he had to bear the brunt of Sakura's wrath. 

Sasuke, the sneaky bastard, had found excuses to be elsewhere.

Shikamaru greeted him at the check-in desk. "Yo."

"I need to see Sakura-chan and Kakashi-sensei," Naruto told him wearily, though his face was a picture of apprehension.

"Visiting time isn't for another three hours, you know," Shikamaru pointed out. But nevertheless he crooked a finger at Naruto and beckoned him to follow. Clearly Shikamaru gave as much consideration for prison rules as he used to give his academy homework. Perhaps he thought it would just be too troublesome to turn him away, because Naruto _was_ about as stubborn as they came after all.

Naruto didn't know what he expected to find when he finally arrived outside cell 3R. Two beaten, broken husks of his teammates wasting away on their respective bunks, too tired and worn-out to argue with each other anymore? Or perhaps one dead body and one pink-haired girl contriving to look innocent?

He certainly didn't expect… _this_…

"What… the hell…!"

Kakashi, on the floor between Sakura's legs, and Sakura, sitting up on his bunk with her fingers sunk in his hair, turned guiltily toward their visitor. "What?" Sakura asked, a little self-consciously.

"What are you doing to Kakashi-sensei!"

She looked down, taking stock of all the neat little braids she'd twisted into her teacher's hair, each tipped with a fetching pink bobble. "What?" she said again, defensive this time. "I'm just playing with his hair. He likes it, don't you Kakashi-sensei?"

"Mm." He flipped a page in his book.

"Why are you letting her do that to you?" Naruto demanded.

"It was either this or sing Happy Birthday to her."

Naruto gaped in shock before loudly shouting, "_How is this better than singing Happy Birthday_!"

Shikamaru winced. "Volume, Naruto… please…"

"Kakashi-sensei, are you wearing _eye-liner_?"

"…it's likely."

"Naruto, leave him alone," Sakura admonished sharply. "We just don't have anything better to do seeing as how we're _in prison_ with _no food_ and it's my _birthday_. So _please_ tell me you brought Tsunade-shishou back with you?"

"Well," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "That's the thing…"

In a flash, Sakura was on her feet, reaching through the bars to grab Naruto's lapels to bring him crashing toward her. "No – Naruto, don't use that tone of voice," she begged. "What's happened? Why isn't Tsunade-shishou here?"

He gave her a remorseful look. "We went to Shizune as soon as we left here last time, and she said that the old woman was off on a research gig in Suna and was staying with Gaara. But when we got there, Gaara said that she'd left for Konoha three days ago… and since she's not here…"

Sakura's grip weakened on Naruto's clothes as despair filled her. "So no one knows where she is," she filled in bleakly, letting her head roll forward against the bars.

"Shizune thinks that she's probably snuck off to gamble." Naruto gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "She also thinks that Tsunade wouldn't dare skive off for more than a few days and should be back soon."

"How soon?" Sakura asked.

"Your guess would probably be better than mine," Naruto said, shrugging. "You're closer to her."

"I have no idea," Sakura said, sagging even further against the bars.

"Well, I'm sure she'll be back by Sunday, right?" Naruto said with slightly forced cheer. "And, uh, anyway! I know it's your birthday and everything Sakura, but I was so busy trying to find Tsunade I didn't have the time to get you a present."

She looked up and gave him a smile. "It's ok," she reassured him. "It's not really that important."

"But I guess I can give you something else you might like." He glanced over at Shikamaru who was watching the wooden floorboards beneath him. "Shikamaru, turn around, ok?"

The guard looked suspiciously at Naruto, and with good reason. "You're not going to give her something you shouldn't, are you, Naruto?" he sighed. "I'll get into trouble."

"Not if you don't see it, so turn around already!"

With another long-suffering sigh, Shikamaru turned reluctantly and leant against the wall with his arms folded. Naruto turned back to Sakura and reached into his dusty hip pouch. "You said you didn't have any food, so I guess this is better than nothing, right?"

He handed her two slim scrolls.

"What's this?" she asked, holding them up for inspection.

"I sealed ramen inside them," he told her happily, ignoring both Shikamaru and Kakashi's groans of '_oh my god_'. "There's one in each, ready to eat. All you have is activate it."

"Oh, Naruto!" Sakura reached out to give her friend the biggest, most heart-felt hug she could manage when separated by two-inch wide iron bars. "I could kiss you!" He puckered up just in case. Sakura settled for politely pressing a small kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, Naruto."

"No problem, Sakura-chan," he grinned at her, blushing but clearly pleased. "It's the least I can do."

"Still, thank you." She smiled at him warmly for a moment, before a new thought crossed her mind and the smile slid a little. "Um, can I ask you something, Naruto?"

"Sure," he piped.

"I guess you told Shizune that we're in here," she said uncertainly. At Naruto's affirmative nod, she began chewing her cheek. "So exactly how many people do you think know about this?"

"I've no idea," he said, eyes staring thoughtfully over her head. "I've been away for a few days so I'm not sure how many people know. I know Hinata knows, and Shino knows _everything_, so he probably knows too and-"

"Ino," she interrupted. "Does Ino know?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "No, I don't think so. Do you want me to tell her?"

"No!" Sakura said so quickly and loudly that all three men jumped. "No – don't tell her or she'll tell-"

She cut herself off before she could finish her sentence, looking down as if she had said too much.

"Tell who?" Naruto scratched his head, puzzled at her reaction. "Your mom?"

"Um… yes, my mom." She didn't sound particularly convincing. Kakashi stroked his fuzzy chin behind his book.

"S'alright," Naruto said cheerfully. "I'll make sure she doesn't find out. And don't worry about Sunday – we won't let those old hags put you away without a fight."

By now Shikamaru was getting impatient. "Enough, already," he said, tugging at Naruto's shoulder. "You need to go before anyone notices you. And Sakura, don't let anyone see those stupid scrolls."

"Thanks Shikamaru – and thanks again Naruto!" She called. Shikamaru began dragging a reluctant fox boy away who had barely enough time to call "Nice threads, Kakashi-sensei!" before they were gone out of sight. Sakura stopped waving and retreated back onto Kakashi's bunk with the two scrolls. "You can have this one," she said, passing him the slightly more scuffed tube.

"Thanks, but it would be better if we share one today and save the other for tomorrow," he pointed out.

"You're right," she sighed. "We don't get food till Sunday, do we?"

"And it's likely that they'll just happen to forget to feed us before carting us off to the hearing," he agreed. "That's what usually happens anyway."

Sakura settled behind him, moving her legs back into their previous positions on either side of Kakashi's shoulders. She picked at Naruto's scroll unhappily. "What's going to happen if Tsunade-shishou doesn't come back?"

Kakashi licked his middle finger and snapped forward a few pages in his book. "Of course she'll come back. She has to eventually."

Which was a fine way of avoiding her question. "I meant before Sunday. What will happen if she's not back in time for our hearing?" She leant forward to perch her chin on the top of his head with her arms dangling loosely over his shoulders.

"You sound worried," he noted.

She pulled a face and squeezed her arms around his neck in an imitation of a frustrated hug. "I _am_ worried!"

"Don't be," he said simply.

Sakura sighed, relaxing a little. Sometimes Kakashi's nonchalance and assuredness that everything would be fine was annoying. But sometimes… sometimes she just needed to hear from someone who was taking things calmly. It made her feel safer. She had to admit, without Kakashi to ground her, she would have been a weeping wreck who had resigned herself to the gallows already.

"I'll hold you to that then," she murmured, closing her eyes and rubbing her cheek against the top of his head as she stared out of the cell bars. He clearly hadn't been using shampoo for the last few days, and although his hair was clean and washed, she could pick up the faint odor of his natural oils. It was almost the same smell as his skin.

For a moment Sakura wanted to do nothing more than just keep draping herself over him like this and continue to breathe in his warmth.

But then Kakashi would probably think she was being strange and unladylike, so she made a forceful effort to tear herself away and started picked away the bobbles she'd tied into his hair. "You want me to do your nails?" she asked, running his fingers through his bleached locks to shake out the miniature braids. "I've got a great shade of red that I think will really compliment your outfit."

"I'd prefer pink," he said dryly.

"Nah, that would just clash."

Despite the playful teasing, she didn't carry through with her suggestion, and merely went about arranging Kakashi's hair in a style that pleased her most. She tried flattening it into a style reminiscent of Sai, before fluffing it up till it was spiky to the same degree as Jiraiya's. Kakashi never seemed to care what she did. He was like a cat sunning himself on a garden wall while ignoring the kitten pouncing all over his flicking tail.

Sakura grew bored of molding his hair eventually and moved onto tickling his scalp. She ran her fingers over the bumps of his skull, and rotated them in small circles along the edges of his sinuses.

Ultimately Kakashi felt compelled to ask what the hell she was doing. "What the hell are you doing?" But his tone was more curious than annoyed.

"Brain massage," she said succinctly. "It's difficult because I'm having trouble finding it. Now just shut up and enjoy it."

And he did. For all of five minutes before he opened his mouth again. "So who was it that you didn't what Ino to tell you were in prison?"

Her fingers tensed against his scalp for a fraction of a moment before moving on regardless. "I told you. My mother."

Her tone was too nonchalant to be _truly _nonchalant.

"Sakura, I am Konoha's second best interrogator after Ibiki himself. I know when someone is lying to me," he said drolly.

Sakura frowned. "Then how come you're such an appalling liar?"

"I've never lied in my life," he lied. "Now answer the question."

She sulked. "You wouldn't know him."

A _him_, huh? "I might surprise you. I know of a lot of people you wouldn't expect me to know of," he told her smoothly.

Sakura was silent for a moment, her fingers pushing over his hair to lay it obstinately flat again. "Alright," she murmured reluctantly. "But you have to promise you won't tell anyone about him!"

His book snapped shut and he suddenly swiveled toward her, fingers held to his mouth coyly. "My goodness, does Sakura-chan have a secret boyfriend?"

"I'm serious, Kakashi-sensei!" she said, not sharing in his humor. "You can't tell anyone."

He dropped his hand, but his smile remained. "Ah, this is one of those embarrassing relationships, isn't it? You know, where you only date them because they asked you and you feel sorry for them, but in truth they have buck teeth and you can't stand the thought of it getting out that your standards have dropped _that_ low."

Kakashi didn't know why, but he was starting to feel an increasing amount of malice towards this unknown boyfriend, and Sakura hadn't even confirmed his existence yet. Still, he hoped to god he had buck teeth and only one eyebrow.

Sakura looked dismayed. "I'm not the one embarrassed by the relationship…" she muttered. "It's him."

Kakashi's smile slid a little. "Who is he?"

"Promise you won't tell?" she asked, looking down at him shyly.

He took her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "I promise." He didn't release her hand, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Ohka Kyuichi."

Kakashi's hand stiffened around hers in shock. He stared at her for a moment, hoping to all gods up in the heaven who weren't busy at that very moment that Sakura was joking. But she wasn't laughing. And when she saw the visible shock on his face, she looked even more dismayed. "You _do_ know him," she whispered, horrified.

"Um… who doesn't?" he said weakly. "Hang on, this isn't Kyuichi of _the_ Ohka clan, is it?"

She nodded numbly.

"Well, uh." He didn't really know what to say. "I have to congratulate you on snagging such a prized catch, but you, uh, do realize that his family will kill you, chop your body into little bits and pieces and then feed you to the wolves?"

She nodded again.

Damn it! Why couldn't he have been a buck-toothed, unibrowed nobody!

"And that's only if the rest of the village girls don't tear you to pieces first."

"That's why you can't tell anyone," she hissed. "Please, Kakashi-sensei, it's really important."

He sighed. "I promised you, didn't I?" he pointed out. "Of course I won't tell. But I can't say I agree to the need for secrecy."

Sakura hugged herself tightly. "He's only going out with me because I promised him no one would find out. His clan is right up there with the Hyuuga's, and his parents are always making noises about him marrying Hinata or Hinabi or someone else with good blood. And because I don't belong to any clan, I'm really not… you know… worthy of him."

"That's an appalling thing to say," he said sharply.

She winced. "You know what I mean," she sighed. "I don't have any ninja roots – my family is mostly comprised of civilians who work in retail, and it's not like I have a bloodline limit or a famous name either. Everyone in his clan has intermarried with the Uchiha and the Hyuuga and even the Kobi clan in Suna. And Kyuichi is like their clan prodigy or something and so everyone's trying to get him married off to the heiress of some other prestigious clan. If anyone found out that he was dating a commoner like me, he'd break our relationship off in the same minute."

Kakashi sighed, not liking what he was hearing. He pulled himself up onto the bunk beside her pulled out the scroll she'd handed him earlier. "Want some ramen?"

"No, but yes."

He unrolled the scroll across his thighs and placed his hand directly over the drawn pentacle. A short burst of chakra and a large Naruto-sized bowl of ramen popped into his lap, piping hot and ready to eat. It only came with one set of chopsticks, naturally.

Ever the gentleman, Kakashi offered them to her. "You eat your half first."

She took the offered bowl and chopsticks and immediately began wolfing as much down as it was physically possible for such a slight girl. At times like this, she reminded him a lot of Naruto.

"Why are you getting mixed up with this kind of snobbery," he asked her, almost rhetorically. "You're too good to get mixed up in clan politics."

She shrugged at him. "I don't know," she said, pausing after swallowing a particularly large not of noodles. "Because he's rich?" Then she laughed.

Yes, the Ohka clan _was _rich. But for all their riches, they were probably only half as strong as the Hyuuga's and twice as snobbish. Kakashi could almost guarantee that however pure this Kyuichi's blood was, or however much 'better' he was than Sakura, this girl could probably trump him easily in a one-on-one fight.

Kakashi didn't hold much respect or reverence for clans or their self-imposed ideas of higher class. How much money you had and how famous your name was didn't matter once you were out on the battlefield.

And if it was only wealth that Sakura was interested in, well she would probably be surprised to learn that certain jonins who led reserved lifestyles could have a bank account big enough to rival that of any clan heir's. A_hem_.

"Clans aren't that great," Kakashi said, leaning back against the wall. "No one gets to choose who they really want to marry and share their life with, and then you get the problems with inbreeding… and then it all starts snowballing out of control. They're not what I'd call particularly happy or healthy households."

Sakura chewed slowly, looking at him sideways. "Aren't you from a clan?"

He smiled slightly. "What gave you that idea?"

"Remember when Chiyo-baa-sama attacked you when she first saw you? She said you were the White Fang. So when I got back I looked that name up in Tsunade-shishou's records and it was a nickname given to a guy named Hatake Sakumo. The records said his signature family trait was the Hatake white chakra. Were you related to him?"

He nodded slowly, his smile still in place. "Sure. But he was only my dad, not a clan member or anything. The Hatake family was very small, even in its heyday."

"Oh," she said, wide eyed. "Um… I read in the records that he, um… passed away…"

"Yeah." His smile twitched wider. "I'm the only one left now."

"I'm sorry." Sakura didn't seem to know what to say beyond that. She looked down at her half-eaten bowl of ramen and suddenly thrust it toward him, as if in some kind of offering. "You can have the rest."

"Thanks." He took the preferred bowl and sticks and paused a moment before using them. It was one of those mini taboos to use other people's chopsticks, and he knew teenagers especially viewed it as some kind of indirect kiss, or something else as intimate as that. He glanced quickly at Sakura, and judging from her mild blush and how quickly she avoided his gaze, she knew off this little taboo.

It was funny. They could spit in each other's food happily enough, but sharing food utensils seemed to be something else entirely…

"You're famous enough to be in a clan, you know," she said as he began eating. "Maybe you should think about starting one."

"I told you, clans kinda suck," he said shortly. "And anyway, I think my grandfather tried that once. He began dictating my father once on who he should marry and how many kids he should have."

Sakura pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. "Oh? And I assume your father disobeyed?"

"Of course, but only once the old geezer was dead." He broke off for a few seconds to take another mouthful of ramen and chew. "Then he met my mother. She was a nobody, I suppose. Someone my grandfather is probably still spinning in his grave over. She worked in a bakery with her father and Dad used to visit her every day to buy a loaf of spicy bean bread just so he had an excuse to talk to her. He didn't even like her bread, he said it tasted like sawdust."

Sakura let out a heart-felt sigh. "That's so romantic."

"Then he knocked her up and she died giving birth to me," he finished flatly. "Which isn't so romantic. She died before my father could marry her, so whichever way you look at it… I am a bastard."

"That's… that's so sad," she whispered, staring off into space. "Oh god, that's so sad, I think I'm going to cry."

"I guess it is a bit sad, isn't it? She was only nineteen," he mused.

She looked at him with large, miserable and watery eyes. "Kakashi-sensei…"

Her sympathy was misplaced. Kakashi didn't miss his mother, as it was hard to miss someone he didn't know very well beyond the stories he used to be told and the odd picture around the home. Kakashi looked down at his near empty bowl of cooling ramen and sighed. "My father was a good ninja – no, forgive me – a _brilliant_ ninja. He was said to have been better than the sannin and nearly right up there with the Yondaime in his prime. He fell for a simple shop girl and he never thought for a moment that she was beneath him. He always idolized her, right up until the day he died."

Sakura shifted uncomfortably.

"If Kyuichi somehow views you as someone to be ashamed of … he can't possibly love you, Sakura."

Her mouth set in a grim line and her eyes hardened on the floor. "You don't know him. He loves me, it's just that if he were to find out about me being in here…"

"He would dump you so fast and hard your eyes would be left spinning for days?" Yeah, he knew that type. If Ohka Kyuichi was anything like the rest of his clan, he was shallow, pleasure-seeking and only nice for as long as it took to charm a girl into his bed. The idea that Sakura might have already been charmed that far actually made Kakashi physically ill. He couldn't finish the ramen.

"He's too old for you, anyway," he concluded, stowing the ramen bowl back into the scroll in order to hide it beneath his lumpy mattress. "He's got to have at least five years on you."

"He's twenty-one!" she snapped. "He's suitably mature. I don't know if you've noticed, but everyone my age is either an idiot or emotionally retarded, and in most cases _both_!"

He didn't respond to her anger. "I just think it's a little unwise getting involved with someone older. At twenty-one, you're not looking for the cutesy kind of relationship you have when you're sixteen where you hold hands and go to movies all the time. He'll be looking for something more… serious."

She gave him a look that would have killed a more feeble-hearted man. "I'm _seventeen_, Kakashi-sensei, and I've _had_ serious boyfriends before. I'm not a child. Jeez, I shouldn't have even told you about him. I didn't think you'd try and lecture me about it – that's just really uncool!"

And just to demonstrate how much he'd annoyed her, she got up, snatched the pencil off the floor and scratched five bold marks into the wall beneath her Unhappy column. He was so far into the negative figures that he'd lost count by now, but just by looking he knew that his was behind by at least fifty points.

It looked as if he would be copping up half his paycheck upon their release.

But more importantly, Kakashi was beginning to think it would be a marvelous idea for Kyuichi to find out his girlfriend's incarceration. It would be a brilliant moment for Sakura to find out about the special brand of arrogance that the Ohka clan liked to breed.

But nevertheless, he didn't feel like arguing with Sakura over this. She was young, but he knew she was capable. It wasn't his place to lecture her on who she should and shouldn't love… _even when she was SO wrong_.

"I've never really had a serious girlfriend," he said mildly. "My first kiss was with a man, and I was twenty-two at the time. When I was your age, getting serious with _anyone_ scared the shit out of me."

Sakura blinked at him, her anger lost in the face of surprise. "Sorry, _who_ was your first kiss?"

He shrugged and smiled. "He's not around anymore." He'd died the very day Kakashi had kissed him, in fact. But he didn't enlighten Sakura to this nugget of joy, as the kiss you pressed to the lips of a dying comrade didn't make for light-hearted conversation. "And surely that kind of anecdote deserves at least five _positive_ points."

Sakura cleverly managed to not hear his last suggestion. "You must have had at least one serious girlfriend, or," she added quickly, "boyfriend."

"Nope. None. Never." He smiled gently.

Sakura stared at his profile with scrutiny. "So you've never been in love?"

"Didn't say that," he said, skewing her an amused look.

"I know, I can tell." Her eyes crinkled and she poked his shoulder playfully. "You had that look in your eye. You were thinking of someone, but from the way you smiled, she must have broken your heart."

He turned toward her, leaning forward with challenge. "What makes you think it was a 'she'?" he deadpanned.

She blinked slowly, not fooled for a minute. "I suppose it _could_ have been a sheep, but I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt." Then she laughed. "Kakashi-sensei, you read pornography written by the most avidly heterosexual man in the entire continent. I'm pretty sure you like women."

"Hm." He gave a secretive smile and sat back, legs crossed.

"So…" She leant closet to him, her chin nearly bumping his shoulder. "What was her name?"

"Is that important? You wouldn't know her. She doesn't live here anymore."

"Ah! So she is a 'she'!" she cried triumphantly. "Ok, then just tell me what she looked like."

"It was such a long time ago, I don't really recall anymore…"

"A childhood crush then?"

"Of sorts."

"That's so cute." Sakura rested her head against his shoulder with a dreamy sigh.

"Why the interest?" he asked mildly.

"Well, it's just that I've never seen you with anyone before, and you don't seem to show any interest in women – even the really gorgeous ones. Do you remember that woman we saved from bandits that one time? The brunette with the yellow dress? Naruto could barely speak he was stammering so hard around her and even Sasuke couldn't really look her in the eye, if you know what I mean. But you were like 'nah, no trouble' and were walking away." She skewed him a conspiratorial look. "She liked you, though. She was so grateful to you, even though it was Naruto who actually saved her."

"Beauty is skin-deep," he told her wisely. "It can't be trusted."

"Still, whoever that girl was," she said lightly. "She must have been a lucky one to get the attention of the elusive Copy Nin. She must have been really special."

Kakashi closed his eyes. "She was." He didn't want to say any more than that. Because as much as Rin had meant to him, he'd never been in love with her. The pain he must have caused her all those years ago was just another biting guilt settled deep in the back of his mind. And yet while he'd never returned Rin's feelings, she was still the closest thing he'd had to a girlfriend. Perhaps in time he could have changed for her… but it was a bit late now. She was gone from his life, just like the rest.

Sakura didn't ask anymore questions after that, having heard something in the tone of his voice that made her back off; something close to sadness and infinite regret. The last thing she wanted to do was upset Kakashi with his own memories, so she sealed her lips and hooked her arm around the one she was leaning on. Kakashi didn't seem to mind. He never seemed to mind.

She found herself drifting off in the comfortable silence. The sky outside was growing dimmer as evening approached, and for a while she lost track of time. She only shot back to lucidity when Kakashi stirred beside her as he stretched out his legs to rest his feet on her bunk. Sakura gazed sleepily at his toes for a long moment before turning her head to prop her chin on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier," she murmured, closing her eyes with a deep sigh. "I know he doesn't love me. I don't want you to think I'm some kind of blind fool – because _I can_ see that."

He didn't say anything or even move, but she suspected he was listening.

"But I guess… it's bad enough hearing it in my own head, I don't want to start hearing it from other people too, because then I _know_ it's true and denial stops working." She fidgeted with his sleeve, making creases with her fingers. "I suppose I'm just hanging onto the hope that my sparking personality will change him and he'll fall in love with me and eventually be proud enough of me to let our relationship be out in the open."

Still Kakashi said nothing.

"But I guess that's a bit foolish too, huh?" she sighed, returning her cheek to his shoulder. "I've never been able to make anyone fall in love with me, no matter how hard I try. This is probably just the same."

Kakashi's dropped against hers. "You are a fool," he said quietly.

"I know," she sighed in despair. "It's because I'm annoying, isn't it? I don't know why he's even bothering with me. I think he's just trying to get back at his parents or something-"

"If he was doing that," Kakashi broke in shortly, "he would _tell_ them about your relationship. As it is, it's clear he's happy to keep you to himself. He likes you. Because believe it or not, you're not a difficult person to like. I just don't think he's respecting you enough. You're a kind girl, with a heart big enough to rival Naruto's and any guy would be lucky to have you. Seriously. He doesn't deserve you. Not even the heir of the Uchiha clan deserves you."

Tears stung her eyes, blurring the cell around her. She felt silly for getting so emotional, but he had no idea what it meant to hear such quiet confidence. Kakashi was sparse with his compliments. He always meant what he said, unless he was trying to stick you with the bill, but since there was nothing he wanted off her here, his words probably came from the heart.

Even if it wasn't much, she wanted him to know that she was touched. She drew a shaking hand up to his face, cradling her fingers along his jaw. "Thank you," she said, her voice breaking into nothing but escaping breath on the second word. She stroked his cheek, reveling in the scratchy texture of his stubble for a moment. Her thumb brushed over his lower lip by accident, which in contract to his jaw was as smooth as silk.

She lowered her hand quickly to her lap.

Not for the first time, she was struck by the awareness of their proximity. She was essentially tucked against his side with her arm looped around his and her breasts more or less pressed against him. But none of it felt weird or awkward. She would rather be here next to him than sitting alone on her bunk. He was warm and comforting and his arm was wonderfully strong.

Last week she would have been horrified and confused by wanting to be this close to Kakashi. But all that seemed to matter now was that being this way felt normal. Almost natural. And most importantly it felt good.

She didn't know where exactly it was going or what it meant. For the moment she decided not to trouble herself with such perplexing questions and concentrated instead of his smell and his presence and the fact that his hand was now holding hers.

The evening was growing darker and by now Sakura would have stretched out on her bunk to go to sleep. Now she felt no such inclination. She would sleep here on Kakashi's shoulder if he didn't mind.

He never minded.

* * *

TBC 


	7. Day Six

A/N: A few people have brought up the morning wood thing in relation to certain sex ed classes many a year a go. I had these same classes too, and I'm here to tell you they are very misleading. You _can_ pee with a hard-on. Most of the time it's simply the best way to cure morning wood, and if you don't believe me, I'm sure google can help you (but please exercise caution as googling some of those keywords will probably give you a serious case of TMI). :3

Anyway, extra long chapter here for ya.

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Seven

Day Six

* * *

It was raining on the morning of the sixth day. The wooden boards of the walkway outside were stained dark with a water and the rooftop of row of cells below it were red instead of their usually terracotta color. Inside the cell the air was damp and chilled, but the body next to Kakashi was warm, if not a little leech-like. 

While it probably wasn't wise to be cuddling up to a young girl who was both a team-mate and a student, Kakashi (much to his self-disgust) couldn't find it within himself to want to move. For a start, sharing body heat was always preferable to sitting alone in a cold dank cell. He would even be liable to wrap his arms around Gai, had the taijutsu been there instead of Sakura. (Although with Gai, he'd more or less wrap his arms around _you _at the drop of a hat, regardless of whether it served any practical purpose.)

But Sakura was definitely a more pleasurable person to cuddle up to than someone like Gai. Her body was much softer and yielding and seemed to fit better alongside his. Yes, she was drooling on his shirt a little bit, but it was quite sweet actually, and although her cold hands had a tendency to wander up his shirt and across his bare stomach, making him flinch at her icy touch, he often let her hand stay there till it had warmed up till it was something that didn't resemble a cadaver quite so much.

Kakashi had to stay awake for most of the night. The one time he let himself drift off under the intoxicating influence of the sweet smell of her hair, he woke up to find his hand had crept beneath the waistband of her pants to rest on her bare hip. After that he knew his subconscious was not at all concerned about her age or her rank or their respective position as student and teacher, and should he let his guard down far enough he would wind up doing something he probably shouldn't.

He should have known something was very wrong when her hand had cupped his face and her thumb had brushed his lip, sending such a sharp pang of desire racing through the length of his body that he very nearly pulled her into his lap and did something else he probably shouldn't even _consider_. He'd been forced to hold her hand tightly as a substitute for a wooden spoon between his teeth.

There was no doubt about it now. He _needed_ to get out of there, and soon. The hearing was only one day away and with luck they would be home free by Sunday evening, but honestly that was just too far away.

Kakashi simply needed to get some distance, regain some perspective and perhaps see about getting himself a girlfriend. Or, failing that, at least a fairly satisfying one-night stand.

"Mmm," Sakura hummed sleepily, flexing soft fingers against his stomach. "Kakashi-sensei, don't do that… I'm a good girl and we'll get in trouble. We're not supposed to… supposed to… do that…"

Never had Kakashi been as distressed at any other point in his life than he was now.

His best prodigal student running away with a psychotic madman because _his_ teachings hadn't been good enough? Irritating, but at least he had some free time to catch up on his reading.

Naruto frequently losing his mind to the monstrous spirit living inside him on many separate occasions? Troublesome, but Kakashi coped well.

But Sakura snuggling up to him and pressing her soft curves and dips into his side while unconsciously whispering dirty talk into his ear? Kakashi was sweating bullets. Really, it was becoming too much. He couldn't wait till tomorrow. He had to get out _now!_

It was a simple trick really, and the only reason he hadn't done it yet was because he found it was a little unfair on Sakura. But what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, and it was all for her greater good anyway.

Kakashi pressed his hands together and performed the desired seals. In a moment he was standing in the middle of the cell looking down at Sakura leaning heavily on an exact copy of himself. His kage bunshin looked back at him quite happily and waved discreetly before wrapping an arm around the pink-haired girl who murmured contentedly.

"Don't do anything I would do," Kakashi muttered quietly to his clone before activating chakra throughout his body and slipping out through the bars.

Once out, he calmly slipped on a henge and assumed the form of someone very unassuming.

Asuma, to be exact.

No one took even the blind bit of notice to him as he amicably strolled out of the prison and on up the hill towards the top of the Hokage monument that overlooked the entirety of Konoha. He stopped atop the head that resembled his former sensei and sat down to release the henge and reserve his chakra. If anyone came across him in his pink prison uniform, they might have guessed he was some sort of escaped mental patient, but seeing as how he couldn't sense anyone around for quite a distance, he felt safe to relax and let his guard down.

Kakashi sighed deeply, taking in the damp fresh air that seemed so much tastier when you weren't behind bars. It was still raining, but now it seemed like refreshing spitting rather than dank, miserable drizzle, and Kakashi felt marginally better for the distance now placed between him and a certain girl.

Problem was, he was now feeling distinctly jealous of his kage bunshin.

_Stop it!_

Almost instantly Kakashi rose to his feet. Typical. He couldn't even have a quiet sit down without his own thoughts turning against him. More distance was required, preferably with a lot of other people around to distract him from his wandering mind. Although he knew he couldn't go too far as that would cause his clone to fail.

Donning Asuma's face again, he headed down the monument toward the dining district where all the restaurants and cafés lay in hopes of catching a bite of breakfast before he had to return. Perhaps he would get something for Sakura too with the excuse that Naruto had simply dropped it off while she was asleep?

He sought crowds and drifted along, trying to figure out where to eat where Asuma wasn't already likely to be. And it was as he was stroking his dark, alien beard while examining a menu in a café window when Kurenai came up behind him.

"I thought you said you had papers to do," she said by way of greeting, just as she slid a hand across his backside.

Kakashi stiffened and stared at her, too shocked for a moment to respond. All he could think of was that he had possibly just won his bet with Gai. "Uh… I'm on my way. Like, right now."

Something about this must have been off, as Kurenai frowned a little. "You ok?"

"I'm fine," he took a step back, hinting at his imminent departure.

Kurenai bit her lip. "We didn't do it too hard last night, did we?" she whispered. "I know you said you'd recovered from your mission, but maybe you shouldn't have strained yourself-"

"I'm good," Kakashi said quickly. _I'm also rich!_

"Ok, then." Kurenai leaned forward to kiss him on the corner of his mouth. "I'll see you later then."

Oh, Asuma was going to _kill_ him…

Kakashi slunk away, meandering through the crowds away from Kurenai. Perhaps he needed to disguise himself as someone less popular. Like… um… himself for instance.

"Oi! You!"

Kakashi turned. "Who? Me?"

The next moment he found himself flat on his back in the dirt with two ninjas standing over him, each with a foot on his chest. Kakashi almost rolled his eyes. Ever vigilant were the terrible twosome of Uchiha and Uzumaki.

"You're not Asuma-sensei," Naruto scowled down at him.

"Oh yeah?" Kakashi retorted.

"We just saw left him in Ichiraku," Sasuke drawled. "There's no way you could have beaten us here if you were Sarutobi Asuma."

"Are you trying to say I'm slow, Sasuke-kun?" he asked easily. "Anyway, how do you know _I'm _not the real Asuma, huh?"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other for a moment before looking back down at him. "Where's your smokes then?" Naruto demanded.

"Ah…" Damn, he'd forgotten about that detail. "Well, you see what happened was this morning as I was leaving my apartment, this chain-smoking monkey just swooped out of nowhere and-"

"Oh god, it's him." Sasuke suddenly looked nauseous. "It's Kakashi."

Kakashi slumped. "Sharingan saw through me, huh?"

"Kakashi-sensei, even _I _recognized you," Naruto pointed out.

"Ah, ok. That's nice." Kakashi looked up at them expectantly, but they merely stared back. He gave their feet pointed looks and eventually sighed. "Are you going to let me up or not?"

"I don't know…" Naruto looked wicked and not at all inclined to let him up.

"You _are_ an escaped convict now," Sasuke said. "We should hand you over to the ANBU for torture."

"Such disrespect for you poor teacher…"

They let him up eventually and escorted him into the nearest bar to buy him a drink. Of course, they'd taken after his unfortunate tendency to forget to carry money with him and so only managed to scrape up enough money between them for three glasses of water.

"Where's Sakura-chan then?" Naruto asked him.

"Back at the prison?" Kakashi felt a little bit guilty about this, so he chugged his drink to distract himself.

"You left her alone in that place?" Sasuke scowled at him.

"With a clone," he replied defensively.

"Why didn't you bring her?" Naruto demanded.

"Because she can't do kage bunshin and the basic bunshin wouldn't be enough to fool the guards," Kakashi explained, rubbing Asuma's finger in circles along the beer stains on their table. "She doesn't even know I'm gone. As soon as she wakes up my clone will dismiss himself and I'll be over there in a shot."

Naruto was leaning a little too close for comfort. "Have you been doing this all week?" he asked unhappily. "I've been busting my ass trying to find Tsunade for you guys, and here you are walking around all happy and free!"

"I've just lost faith in the legal system," Sasuke sulked.

"No, it's just for today," Kakashi sighed. "I just needed to get out for a bit."

"Why?" Sasuke leaned his cheek on his palm and looked at him sideways. "Was Sakura being especially annoying or something?" He was forced to recoil somewhat at the rather intense glares he received off both Kakashi and Naruto.

"Sakura's been just great," Kakashi said a little tightly. "Naturally, she's a little anxious about tomorrow and she's been taking it out on my hair, but other than that… just great."

Naruto nodded vaguely, swilling water around his mouth a moment before swallowing. "Some guy was looking for her yesterday," he said.

Kakashi glanced at him, feigning disinterest. "Oh?"

"Some guy… Keiichi… Oke Eichi, or something like that," Naruto shook his head in a distracted manner. "He didn't say what he wanted with her, he was just wondering where she was."

"Did you tell him?" Kakashi asked.

"No, but a lot of people know by now what happened to you guys. He only needs to ask someone like Ino and-"

"So Ino knows?"

"Oh, yeah." Naruto rolled his eyes. "She really got a kick out of hearing what happened to Sakura and has been telling everyone. I mean, _everyone_."

"Oh dear." Kakashi chugged his drink again. Sakura wasn't going to like this.

"Who was he?" Naruto asked insistently. "I know he's from a clan or something, but what does he want with Sakura?"

Kakashi stared at the table for a moment, contemplating a situation that really had nothing to do with him. Something he had no business sticking his nose into, but somehow… "He's Sakura's friend. Next time he asks… tell him where she is, ok?"

"Oh, ok," Naruto agreed equably. "But hey – Sakura isn't supposed to have any other friends than us! _We're _her friends. Is she two-timing us?"

Kakashi chuckled and scrambled his hand over Naruto's head. "Sometimes two is company and three's a crowd, Naruto. Perhaps Sakura just wanted a friend of her own? And don't we all?"

Sasuke glared at him. "Who is that guy really to Sakura?"

Kakashi decided to ignore this question in favor of pretending his kage bunshin was calling. "Oh, I do believe my clone just dismissed himself. Sakura must be waking up. Must go!"

He put his hands together and disappeared in a burst of smoke and dust, leaving two boys gagging and choking in his wake.

* * *

Sakura was awakened rather rudely that morning. She'd been enjoying a nice dream about her and Kakashi doing more washing machine related pranks when the comfortable pillow she'd been leaning on literally disappeared out from underneath her. 

Blinking in sleepy, dimwitted surprise, she looked around the cell and laid eyes on the tall dark-haired man standing over her.

"_What the-!_" She gasped and threw herself back against the wall, instinctively drawing her arms over her chest and clamping her thighs shut in response to waking up with a strange man. "A-Asuma-sensei! What are you doing here? Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

"Oh, sorry," Asuma mumbled, and quite suddenly he was gone and in his place was her familiar librarian-esque sensei.

Sakura relaxed visibly. "You scared me," she accused softly. "What were you doing anyway?"

"Just wanted to practice my jutsu before I let captivity make me rusty," he replied pleasantly. "Also, I was beginning to feel the atrophy setting in so I thought I might do some exercise."

"God, you're too energetic in the morning to be the Kakashi-sensei I know," she grumbled, collapsing onto the bunk to pull the blanket over her like a stiff old lady.

"It's nearly midday, Sakura," he pointed out.

"So? It's still _technically_ morning."

"Morning _technically_ began eleven hours ago too."

To that, all Sakura had to say was an all-encompassing, "Blargh… leave me alone, smarty-pants."

Kakashi left her alone and got down on the floor between the bunks to start his customary push-ups. By the time he was up to a hundred and twenty-nine, Shikamaru trundled past with his trolley of breakfast and threw out the usual "Yo," without stopping. Kakashi's stomach gave a sulky rumble as he watched the breakfast laden guard slip out of sight, but he steeled himself with his ninja resilience and went back to his push-ups.

Exercise was a wonderful thing. It required concentration, especially when counting each push. When he exercised he could forget how hungry he was, or how badly he needed a shave, or how unintentionally sexy his cellmate was. Every time she rolled over with a contented groan and a sigh, he had to bite the inside of his cheek and start counting out loud to drown her out, because even the absent noises she made wreaked havoc with his mind. She only smack her lips sleepily and he'd find his arms trembling beneath him that had nothing to do with exhaustion as he was _only_ at two hundred and thirty two.

As he was nearing his goal of one thousand, Sakura finally roused herself enough to sit up. There she stretched and popped her joints and yawned so widely she might have simply just unhinged her jaw.

"You'll ruin your fingers doing that," she informed him, noting the fact that he was balancing his entire weight on his two index fingers. "You'll get arthritis, and when you're forty-odd they'll be stiffened into hooks."

"Good for catching kunai," he retorted. Besides, he doubted he'd live till forty-odd. Ever since he'd become a genin he'd been informed of the delightfully cheery prospect that he probably wouldn't even live to see his thirtieth birthday. He was living on borrowed time as it was.

"I'm serious," she said.

"Alright then, if you're so concerned…" He switched to just one finger instead. But rather than placate Sakura, this simply served to exasperate her further.

"I bet you're not even using chakra either," she observed, scowling down at him.

"Well, that would be cheating," he told her. "And not everyone can control it like you can."

"You should learn how to, though," she said cheerfully. "And if you used it with your push-ups you would be helping both physical and chakra stamina. Two birds with one stone."

"Ok," he said, getting up. "Show me. You could do with the exercise anyway."

Sakura's expression immediately turned stony. "Are you saying I'm fat?"

He looked back at her coolly. "Would you exercise if I said 'yes'?" he asked. At her continued silence he just nodded. "Right, yes. As a house."

"Charming!" she said, sounding very offended. Her small grin gave her away though.

She shooed him out of the way and got onto the floor where she took a moment to gather her chakra before commencing a series of push-ups. "It's sort of meditative," she explained with her eyes closed. "I can do this for about half an hour these days, but when I started I could only last ten minutes. Get on my back."

"What?" Kakashi did a double-take.

"Get on my back. I can take it. Tsunade-shishou usually makes me train with weights anyway."

"Alright." He complied, but it felt a little odd. He probably weighed almost twice what she did, and stepping on her back would be considered quite cruel under most ordinary circumstances. But this _was_ Sakura, and she was anything but ordinary in many ways.

He sat on her back, facing her feet, and brandished his book before him, though he didn't read it. Sakura's rhythm didn't even break. He had to hand it to her… she was strong.

"I don't think I shall ever get used to this…" he murmured, trying to fix his gaze on the open page of Icha Icha Exchange, but the words kept blurring together.

"You're just jealous 'cuz this is the one thing you can't copy," she teased happily, though there was a hint of strain in her voice.

"You'd be amazed at the number of things I can't copy," he replied. "Are you sure I'm not too heavy?"

"You're as light as a bag of kittens."

Kakashi almost felt his masculinity drop about twenty percent. "I see…"

* * *

It was still raining my midday. If anything it was getting torrential, although Sakura was grudgingly pleased to observe that she and Kakashi remained quite dry. He mustn't have been kidding about those protective wards and jutsu to keep out the weather effects. 

The day was progressing with the same kind of monotony that she was beginning to get used to. When Kakashi was hauled out to the bath house by the guards, she immediately gave up any pretence of exercise and settled down to read a couple of pages of _Icha Icha Exchange_ out of pure curiosity and lack of anything better to do.

To be honest, Jiraiya's sense of humor tickled her. While it verged on bawdy, she couldn't deny that she had a few romance novels in her bookcase that probably contained racier stuff.

Of course, when she heard Kakashi returning she carefully put the book back in the same position and wiped her fingerprints away. She knew she would only get a moral grilling for being underage and then he'd make a point to never let the book out of his sight.

When she returned from her own shower, she sat behind the bars, looking out over the miserable landscape with an equally miserable expression. "This humidity is doing nothing for my hair," she sighed, skewing Kakashi a look. "Nor yours, for that matter."

Kakashi was too busy studiously ignoring her.

She realized she was complaining again, something that came quite easily to her, though she knew it annoyed him. So she tried to steel her mind onto other matters.

Right about now, she could do with some visitors to cheer her up. It would be nice to see Naruto and Sasuke again, if only to get an update on the outside world if not to inform her that Tsunade had returned. There were other things than her imminent incarceration that worried her.

For instance; had her landlord repossessed her flat now that she'd been gone nearly a week? Were all her worldly possessions stacked in the hall outside her door? Had anyone remembered her birthday _at all_? Had her parents tried to contact her only to find she was never in? What if her mother had discovered she was in prison?

No… that one couldn't have happened. If her mother knew where Sakura was, she would have been right there, throttling Sakura through the bars with all her might wailing her patented, "Why me? What did I do to deserve a daughter like you?"

Sakura shuddered delicately.

Sometimes Sakura could hear her mother's voice when she lost her temper. When she scolded Kakashi or went off on a rant at him, it was almost as if she was channeling the older Haruno at times. At least Kakashi and Sakura's father had something in common: they were both laidback and easygoing enough to let the verbal diatribes slid off their backs like water off a duck. Someone like Naruto might have been cowed by the ferocity her anxiety had a tendency to produce and taken it personally. Someone like Sasuke would have responded in kind.

But Kakashi understood her, and he simply didn't take her seriously.

_That's the kind of guy I need to marry,_ she told herself wearily. _He's the only kind that would put up with me… but getting him to do housework would be hell. _She had a feeling sometimes that it wasn't just her temper that he managed to brush off so easily. It could be _anything_ she said when he was in a contrary mood.

There was still hope for Ohka Kyuichi, though. She'd never actually lost her temper around him, so it was hard to say how he would take the more prickly side of her. But he seemed to genuinely care about her, and she was inclined to think that, given enough time, he would grow a strong enough backbone to stand up to his clan and openly date whoever he wanted (which would just so happen to be Sakura).

Yes. The power of love would come through!

Two guards and a prisoner walked past the cell, bare feet and sandals splattering on the wet boards. The prisoner looked downright ecstatic. It looked as if he was being released.

Alright for some…

Sakura sighed and turned back to Kakashi. "Can we have that ramen now?"

"No." His eyes were firmly glued to the book in his hand and he was scratching his stubble (which was more of a beard by this point) in a thoughtful manner. But he wasn't reading the book. He was examining its spine. "Sakura, could you perhaps explain to me why the break at the base of this book's spine is now an inch higher than it was when I left?"

He noticed stuff like that? Sakura nonchalantly turned away. "Maybe you sat on it?" she suggested.

"Sakura," he began slowly, tapping the book cover. "You see this number on the front?"

"The number eighteen?"

"Yes. It means that no one under the age of eighteen can read this."

Sakura pulled a face. "What, so I'm old enough to do it, but I'm not old enough to read about it?" she scoffed at him. "That doesn't seem particularly fair to me. You just don't want to share."

"That's true," he said, looking hard at her. "But I don't want to be responsible for corrupting your-"

She interrupted with a caustic laugh, feeling irritated for some reason. It was probably because of the slow, plodding way he was speaking to her like she was a stupid child. "Kakashi, my mind is about as innocent as yours. I'm not even a virgin, you know."

It took nearly a full ten seconds before Sakura realized what she had said. Firstly, she'd called him by his first name only without any honorific. Secondly, she'd just told him she wasn't a virgin.

She looked around at him guiltily. "I'm sorry," she muttered sheepishly, noting his deeply confused frown. "You probably didn't need to know that."

"I'm… surprised," he managed. "That's all." Except he looked like he'd been hypnotized by an Anbu and was staring into the space over her head with that same puzzled frown.

"I told you I wasn't a particularly nice girl," she sighed, leaning her forehead against the bars to listen to this ambient hiss of rain on the valley below. Every drop hitting every leaf of every tree was like a chorus of faraway claps.

"What, you think you can only be a nice girl if you still have your virginity?" he asked, even more confused.

"No," she said. Her face was heating up and she was glad to be turned away from him. "But losing it because you're just trying to make someone jealous isn't very becoming. Or mature." She broke off to run her cold hands over her hot face. "God," she groaned. "Why is it that love can make you do very _stupid_ things. And it didn't even _work_."

"Mm," Kakashi hummed, not sounding too impressed. "I gather Sasuke wasn't bitten by the green-eyed monster then."

"It wasn't that," she murmured. "I just didn't have the heart to tell him after it happened. Him or anyone else for that matter.

"Then I'm honored," Kakashi said a littler tersely.

Sakura blinked at him uncertainly. He'd gone back to reading his book with a schooled expression. "Are you angry with me?" she asked in surprise.

"Why should I be angry with you?" he returned lightly. "Although I must admit I didn't think you were quite as foolish as to do something _that _stupid."

Sakura reeled in shock and hurt. The cell seemed to sway for a moment as her head swam unpleasantly, then her balanced cleared and she carefully climbed to her feet. She moved to stand before him, a quiet bewildered look on her face that he missed completely. He seemed intent on ignoring her now. "You're disappointed in me?" she whispered.

Of all the ways Kakashi could feel about her, the last thing she wanted to be was a disappointment. She only really knew of one other people Kakashi was disappointed in, and that was Sasuke. He kinda deserved it for taking Kakashi's teachings and then throwing it in his face. But Sakura made one stupid juvenile mistake…?

"Kakashi, please don't fall out with me over this," she pleaded quietly. "I'm sorry that it happened. It was a long time ago and I barely remember his name and it was _awful_ anyway, so… please don't hold it against me. I've been beating myself up over it enough without you starting on me too."

He sighed and shifted his gaze up from his book to the region of her stomach. "Why are you calling me 'Kakashi'?"

Sakura blinked at him again, caught off-guard. "I think," she began hesitantly, "maybe sometimes it seems more appropriate. You're my teacher, but sometimes you're my friend too, right?"

He shook his head slowly in a way that made her heart leap into her throat in fear of rejection. "Not sometimes," he said shortly. "Always."

A tentative smile broke across her face, even if it was still a little bewildered. Kakashi's reaction confused her somewhat, and she couldn't decide if it was simple over-protectiveness or that he was actually disgusted by what she'd done. He certainly didn't have much right to feel either way. So she held the smile in place as she bent down more to his level and rested her hand atop his head, debating whether or not to pull his hair. Hard. "Not that it's any of your business anyway," she said pleasantly, but with a hint of spite to let him know she was serious. "And I'd bet my right leg that you did pretty stupid stuff when you were young too, Kakashi-sensei. Cutting up your dad's hair and sticking nails in your teachers' seats was undoubtedly just the start of it."

He avoided her implication with a soft cough. "Are you sure you don't remember his name?"

"I'm sure," she lied. She remembered his name perfectly well, but she wasn't about to tell it to Kakashi. She was sure that somehow come tomorrow, despite Kakashi being locked up, that boy would find himself waking up in a hospital. She could see it in the faint tautness around his jaw that he was thinking some very violent thoughts. Or that he had a mouth ulcer. Well, something like that anyway…

Then his eyes met hers and she saw the flash of pity behind them, coupled with something deeper and sadder. It made her stomach twist in a knot and she quickly drew away from him to sit back on her own bunk. She had to avert her eyes, because just looking at him made her feel angry.

It had all happened over six months ago, and the experience was so ridiculous and embarrassing and _short_ that it was hardly worth remembering at all. She'd regretted it in the following few days, but only because she'd been more drunk than she'd realized and she'd missed what a manipulative bastard the boy had been. Her initial plan to use it as a means to entice Sasuke never took off, partly because the experience was too humiliating to admit to, and partly because there was really nothing Sasuke could be jealous of. The boy was boring, the sex was crap, and she hadn't exchanged more than a few awkward words with him since that one silly night.

Sasuke would probably just laugh if he ever found out. Except, Uchihas didn't laugh, so it was more likely he'd just see her as the true idiot she was and then go back to ignoring her.

With her illusions of romantic sex blown, her illusions of true love quickly followed. Pretty soon after that, she'd started to date Kyuichi.

But it wasn't like Kakashi needed to feel _sorry_ for her.

He was getting out the scroll that Naruto had given them the previous day. "Want some ramen?" he asked her evenly.

Always the one to cut her nose off to spite her face, Sakura said, "No," even though her stomach protested that decision quite loudly.

Kakashi paused a moment to give her an incredulous look before shrugging and releasing the ramen from the scroll. "Suit yourself."

Then he was eating alone quite merrily, and Sakura was even more annoyed than ever. She curled up on her bunk and quietly fumed, wondering just when Kakashi had any right to pity her. When he looked at her like that she felt young and stupid… and she hated this man making her feel young and stupid. How were they supposed to be friends and equals when he looked down on her like that?

She was so taken up with her irritable dwellings that she missed the shadow that stepped out of the rain and up to the bars beside her. Guards went by so frequently that she just assumed he was another. But when he spoke up, her blood instantly ran cold.

"Sakura-chan?"

Her head whipped round so fast she nearly gave herself a crick. "Kyuichi…"

* * *

It was irritating to see he had perfectly nice, straight white teeth and two separate and clearly defined dark eyebrows. He didn't even have a bowl cut. And while he may have been a jonin (one of those annoying jonins who hampered their uniform with family crests and other unnecessary articles of clothing) he was a relative newbie. He'd probably only passed the jonin exam by the skin of his teeth. 

Kakashi could totally take him.

Sakura may have been stiffened with shock and horror, but Kakashi dismissed the younger man with the briefest of glances and went back to his ramen. He stared at the wall opposite him, as if that was infinitely more interesting than their latest visitor.

"Kyuichi, what are you doing here?" Sakura got to her feet, running her hands over her hair self-consciously as she stepped up to face her secret boyfriend.

"Your friend approached me to tell me you were here," Kyuichi told her. He was looking grave and serious, and something told Kakashi that he was troubled.

"Which friend?" Sakura asked tightly.

"Uzumaki Naruto was his name."

Naruto might as well have just dug his own grave. Kakashi felt a pang of sympathy for him, knowing full well that it was his fault.

"I have to say, Sakura-chan, I was surprised to hear you were in here…"

"Kyuichi, it's really not what it looks like. It's all a mistake-"

"I need to speak with you." Kyuichi said, flicking Kakashi a meaningful look. "In private."

Sakura and Kyuichi both turned to look at him, and Kakashi turned his head slowly to meet their stares. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said, feigning surprise. "I'll just go take this into the other room, shall I?"

Point delivered with maximum sarcasm, Kakashi went back to ignoring the pair while he ate his ramen. He'd intended to leave some for Sakura when she was feeling less petty, but he was so distracted by the couple's conversation that he was beginning to stuff his face indiscriminately.

Kyuichi had settled for just lowering his voice, as if that would do him any good. "Sakura-chan, I thought you were a nice kind of girl. To be in a place like this-"

"It's a mistake," she hissed back pleadingly. "We've been wrongly convicted-"

Kyuichi interrupted her again. "Do you have any idea how this will look if it gets out? What are people going to think if they hear I'm dating a girl with a criminal record?"

"Kyuichi!" Sakura cried, loud enough for him to reach through the bars to press a finger to her lips to hush her.

"I was thinking about going public with our relationship, Sakura-chan, but I don't think it's wise now," he said, quite oblivious to Kakashi's sneeze that sounded remarkably like '_bull shit!_' "In fact, I think it's best if we end things here. It isn't working."

Sakura was clearly struck dumb. A myriad of expressions roll over her face like thunder. Shock, hurt, a little fear and then a lot of anger. Kakashi watched as that anger seemed to encompass her entire body and Kyuichi had to look away from her.

"I told you," she said in a low, trembling voice. "This is a mistake. I'll be out of here tomorrow. No one needs to know-"

"It doesn't matter," he cut in. "I can't be associated with a girl like you."

"You bastard – you're dumping me!" she snapped, more loudly than Kyuichi cared for by the shifty look he gave the surrounding area. "I've done exactly as you said! I never told anyone about our relationship and I was nothing but faithful to you! Now you're dumping me? When I need you most?"

"Sakura-chan, it's not-"

"Don't you _Sakura-chan_ me!" Her voice was gaining volume. "I've always done my best to help you, Kyuichi! You wouldn't have passed that jonin exam if it wasn't for me helping you! When you were down on that floor, who was the one who healed you a hundred and twenty percent? Who was the one who lent you her chakra so you could keep fighting because you'd run out? And this is the thanks I get? The one time I could possibly need your help and you're cutting and running? You _coward_!"

She punctuated this with a hard slap against the bars, making both Kyuichi and the iron cage jump in response. Kakashi paused in his eating to watch with mounting concern.

Kyuichi, ruffled but undeterred, fixed her a scathing look. "And here I thought you were going to mature about this."

Sakura glowered with enough fury to make him take a step back. "You only have to be mature when the other person is, and since you're being a pathetic little piss-ant about this I think I feel quite entitled to make a scene and tell you to _go fuck yourself you arrogant, conceited prick!_"

She said this so loudly, Kakashi was pretty sure it echoed at least twice around the entirety of the prison. He was even more sure that every prisoner on that level was now sitting with their ears pricked, having heard every word.

Kyuichi was red-faced with either anger or embarrassment. "Goodbye, Sakura." He turned sharply and walked away.

"Get back here, you – you – you complete and utter bastard!" Sakura screamed, hurling herself against the bars as if trying to press through them. "I'll tell everyone, you know! Everyone! Kyuichi! Come back here! I'm going to kill him – _I swear it_ – I'll kill you!"

She was rattled the bars in sheer anger and frustration. Kakashi frowned at her. "Sakura…"

"How can he do this to me, the bastard! I did everything for him!" She threw her weight against the bars again. "_Everything!"_

There was a creak of metal and Kakashi realized she was beginning to bend the bars. In a instant he was on his feet and behind her, reaching around to yank her wrists away from the cell bars. "Sakura, calm down," he said shortly.

"Get off me!" she yelled. "I'm going to hurt him! I'm going to hurt him so much he'll wish he was dead!"

She was crying, he realized, but still out of control. She threw her weight around and he was forced to wrap his arms around her waist and shoulders in order to restrain her. He was lucky she was so emotional. If she had been focused, even he wouldn't have been able to control her. Rather than risk her breaking out and actually causing that stupid boy some serious physical harm, he dragged her back towards the back of the cell, holding her until she got control of herself.

"Kakashi, get off me! He can't do this to me! He can't do that and just walk off like that when I can't do anything about it!" she was sobbing now. Huge, wretched sounds that shook her entire body and weakened her struggles. Kakashi allowed his grip to loosen, but he didn't let go. He felt guilty for causing her this pain, but in the end it would probably be better for her. The kind of guy who would dump her for this was not the kind of guy she needed to be seeing. It was better to have it happen sooner rather than later, before she convinced herself she was in love and it would hurt ten times more.

His heart ached for her, it really did.

But so did his body.

It sickened him, to feel the sudden hot thrum of desire rush through his veins at the feel of her writhing body pressed to his front. He felt like the worst kind of pervert, taking pleasure from a girl in such obvious distress.

It was dangerous to feel this way. As dangerous as it was to get angry and upset over hearing she wasn't a virgin. He didn't understand quite why it angered him so much to know that some toffee-nosed brat had already plucked her, but perhaps it was just that. He hated the idea that some over-eager teenage boy had already tasted her before…

Before what?

Before Kakashi himself had?

The desire was quite abruptly flushed out of him with a cold pang of fear and disgust. He released Sakura in a heartbeat and watched her tumble onto her bunk, breathing hard and weeping. She threw a strange look at him over her shoulder, as if she was aware something odd had passed through his mind but wasn't sure what.

Kakashi sat down on his bunk wearily, pressing his face into his hands and waiting as Sakura's sobs faded into soft hiccups and then to just sniffles. He looked up at her to see her wiping her eyes furiously and straightened her clothes as if to regain some semblance of dignity and calm. Her face was still a tear-stained mess.

Women were divided into two categories the world over; there were those who looked even more beautiful when they cried, and those who really did not. Sakura was clearly in the second group. Puffy eyes and runny noses weren't all that attractive, but Kakashi didn't mind. He thought it was quite endearing actually.

Sakura eventually managed to draw a shaky breath. "Why would he do that?" Her voice was still a little tight with tears, but at least the murderous rage had left it.

"Because he's a bastard?" he offered quietly, guilt gnawing at him.

"Not him. I mean _him_. Naruto. Why would Naruto go up to Kyuichi and tell him where I was? He doesn't even _know _Kyuichi." She shook her head, confused. "I don't get it."

Kakashi stared at her. He knew perfectly well that the next time she saw Naruto she would demand to know why he'd done it. And then Naruto would turn a perfectly innocent and bewildered stare on Kakashi and point at him accusingly as he said, "But _he_ told me to do it."

Yeah… Sakura would never forgive him. He could try and get to Naruto before her and make sure he kept Kakashi's involvement a secret. But despite Naruto being an excellent secret-keeper (keeping schtum about having a giant fox in his belly was a good reference) he knew that it would come out eventually. Sasuke had also overheard what Kakashi had told Naruto to do, and the Uchiha had less such compunctions about protecting him.

And if there was one thing Kakashi was certain of, it would be that Sakura would dislike him even more if he hadn't told the truth right away. Well, he'd read enough of Jiraiya's books to know how deep one could dig a hole when trying to keep secrets.

"Sakura…" he began softly, rubbing the back of his head. "_I _told Naruto to do that."

Sakura turned wide, confused eyes on him. She made him feel as if he had just kicked a puppy. "What?" she whispered.

"I went for a little walkabout this morning before you got up. I met the bots and they mentioned that Kyuichi had been asking after you, but they didn't know who he was. And I just…" He made a vague gesture with his hand and sighed. "I just told them that if they saw him again, they were to tell him where you were."

Her mouth had dropped open softly as she listened to him. When he finished it shut again and she swallowed hard, averting her eyes to look at his bunk rather than at him. "You went for a walkabout. What happened to the honor system?"

Kakashi didn't reply. Anything he said at this point would just sound like lame excuses and lies, and he knew that Sakura had known him too long to believe his excuses. And besides he wasn't sure she was referring to the 'honor system' he'd told her about.

All he could think to say now was simply, "I'm sorry." He just didn't regret it either.

Sakura stood up in one swift motion and moved to stand before him, glaring down at him with fresh tears that were threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. He prepared himself for a barrage of insults and verbal lashings.

He didn't quite expect her to draw back her hand and smack him across the cheek. Hard.

The sound of the slap rung in his ears and his cheek began to sting belatedly. Stunned, he could only blink at her rapidly. "Ow…"

She hit him again. And again. Kakashi had to throw up his hands to absorb the blows, not sure how he was supposed to react. She wasn't hitting him with her Tsunade-like strength, but wasn't exactly holding back either. He couldn't remember the last time he'd simply sat there and let someone try to smack the living daylights out of him. It probably had something to do with the fact that, deep down, her knew he deserved it.

"You bastard!" she ground out between clenched teeth as she smacked the arms shielding his face. "You did it on _purpose!_ You knew what would happen if he found out, and you went out of your way to make sure that happened! You _complete_, and _utter, bastard_!"

Without warning, her battering ceased and she went still. Kakashi cautiously lowered his arms and looked up to see she was crying again, though she hardly made a sound. She screwed up her eyes and pressed a trembling hand over them, and though she was struggling to remain calm, he could hear her sucking a breath that shook as much as her fingers.

"And if Naruto hadn't told him," she whispered tremulously. "Someone else would have. And he would have still come here to… to…"

"Sakura, I'm sorry," he tried again, hoping for a more earnest tone. It wasn't his fault that his voice didn't have a natural honest edge and everything that came out of his mouth sounded unenthusiastic and, if he tried to inject some feeling into his words, just plain cynical.

So it was no surprise when Sakura aimed another slap for him, only this time he caught her wrist and tugged her arm to bring her head more level with his. But Sakura wouldn't even look at him. She turned her face resolutely away from his and glared scathingly at the dusty floor through tear-glazed eyes.

And suddenly Kakashi knew what to do. His body moved without asking permission of his common sense and before he knew it, both his hands had moved up to cradle her nape, thumbs pressed to her jaw. Sakura snapped to face him again in shock. "Kakashi-sensei, what are-"

He kissed her. There was the slightest tap of moist, yielding lips against his own and then she was gone, having thrown herself back so hard and fast that she'd tripped over her own bunk and almost brained herself on the wall beneath her tally chart. She was staring at him as if he'd just attempted to bite her, hand pressed against her mouth and eyes wide.

Kakashi tapped his chin thoughtfully. Mm. Perhaps he should have thought that through a little more thoroughly? It was quite possible that what he'd just done had killed their lovely rapport, and that Sakura would never speak to him again unless she absolutely had to during work related matters. Now she probably thought he was a pervert and a creep and a complete basket case, and exactly which suicide jutsu should he use now?

While he was making his choice, Sakura was trying to still her ferociously beating heart. Briefly, she doubted her own sanity. Kakashi couldn't _possibly_ have tried to kiss her. He was _Kakashi_, for crying out loud!

It was the complete unexpectedness of the move that had made her retreat so sharply. Only now there was a ache in her chest that made her want to cry all over again, the kind of ache she got when watching the end of an especially sad movie. The kind of ache she got when she wished things had gone differently.

It seemed as if the entire week had been leading up to this moment. Every touch they had traded with pretend nonchalance and every time she had stolen the chance to get close enough to him to breath his scent, her body had been willing her towards more each day, even without her realizing. Now out of the blue he'd tried to kiss her…

And right at that moment, Sakura knew she had to get that kiss, even if it was the last thing she ever did. She didn't apply too much thought to the matter. She simply pushed away from her bunk again and went to him, and despite the fact he looked as if he was preoccupied thinking of many colorful ways in which to kill himself, she bent down and pressed a tentative kiss to his lips.

He even had the cheek to flinch in surprise. It made her hesitate for a moment, pulling back a fraction to gauge whether or not she was making a mistake too.

But then his hand came up to cup her jaw and he closed the gap between their lips again, and everything seemed perfect after that.

Apart from the beard. The beard was scratchy and bizarre against her chin, but she managed to overcome it. All that mattered was his warm, delicious lips that tasted of ramen and Kakashi and something purely male that made her want to moan and get closer. She opened her mouth to him, wanting to take everything he was giving, and instantly his tongue swept against hers.

She felt dizzy and she was crying and her head was hurting from where she'd banged it against the wall, but her body still caught. It was something she'd never felt before. In all her experience of kissing boys, never had it quite felt like this – as if the mere touch of his lips against hers had ignited some part of her she hadn't even known existed. Shaking hands ran through his rough, un-kept hair as Sakura pressed closer, wanting more from the pressure of his lips on hers and willing at that point to do anything to get it. Standing was becoming far too awkward on her back, and without a second thought she straddled his lap.

A warning bell went off somewhere at the back of Kakashi's mind the moment he felt Sakura sit astride his thighs, but it was immediately muted and drowned by the soft moan and the delicate shiver she gave as their kiss deepened. Blood was thundering through his veins and ringing in his ears, because, though he would be lying if he said he hadn't imagined kissing this girl before, his imagination held nothing over the real thing.

Sakura was more than he could have expected. She was vivacious and zealous, and not at all passive. She didn't just accept his kiss, but was instigating her own and responding passionately to every touch he passed over her throat and back. She tasted wild and sweet, and he couldn't stop his hand from slipping under her shirt to pressed against the small of her back. He was rewarded with another delicious shudder as her hips shifted convulsively against him, and he bit back a groan of sheer male triumph.

Dimly, the alarm bells rung again. He could hear guards moving about on the walkways outside, and only one needed to walk past and see them for the shit to hit the fan. But the rain was picking up and drowning out the sounds of other prisoners and guards, and with it, drowning out the sense of foreboding.

The desire thrumming through his veins was running away with him. Every slide of her tongue and stroke of her hand over her neck shoved the unyielding block that was his common sense towards the edge of a cliff. He wanted more, wanted everything.

Without thinking, he firmly caught her hips and dragged her forward. Sakura broke off the kiss with a gasp and a small yelp of surprise as her hips were drawn inward and flush against his. There was no mistaking the firm bulge now nestled directly between her thighs. He seemed to realize it at exactly the same moment as her, and they both stilled and locked uncertain, cagey eyes on one another.

Sakura immediately tugged herself free of his lap and all but scrambled back onto her bunk. She would have probably run away if there had been anywhere to go, but all she could do was sit there and stare at the floor in horror as she realized exactly who they were and what they had just done.

She was Haruno Sakura and he was Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja. He was her _teacher _and he'd just managed to get her dumped by the wealthiest boy she would ever get her paws on, and at some point in time between the moment she'd slapped him and now, something odd had ticked over in their relationship.

It was too much too soon.

And now she didn't know how to even look at him.

Kakashi slowly drew the back of his hand across her mouth and closed his eyes. It was a good thing she'd retreated, otherwise by now he might have ripped off her pants and had her riding him whether she'd liked it or not. Even now, she was too close. His blood was still calling for her, and he only had to reach out across the cell to find her again. She wasn't safe from him.

She wasn't saying anything. Meaning she was probably just deeply embarrassed or ashamed. He didn't really blame her. He blamed himself for not having been with a woman for such a long time. His barely controllable lust seemed to indicate just how truly desperate he was if he couldn't keep his hands off a teenage girl for more than six days in a confined space.

A shift of feet along the wet boards outside made him stand in a shot. Shikamaru was walking past in a coat with its hood up, looking especially peeved and bedraggled. He spared Kakashi a glance as he passing and clearly knew something was up because he stopped. "What?"

"I want to move cells," he said, feeling Sakura's eyes drilling holes into the back of his head. "Put me with someone else."

Shikamaru sniffed, wiping some rain from his face as he looked curiously between Kakashi and Sakura. "You both look awfully serious. Did you have a fight?" he guessed.

"Under section 2C of the Prisoner Rights legislation, prisoners are entitled to choose a different cellmate at least once."

"Yeah, _if _there are any places available." Shikamaru retorted. "There's only one cell with a free bunk on this level, Kakashi-san, because a prisoner was released today. And you won't like the guy on the bunk opposite, I assure you."

Kakashi clenched his hands around the bars. "It doesn't matter. I _want _to be moved."

Shikamaru stared at him, nonplussed. Then he flicked his gaze past Kakashi to look at Sakura and stared at her for an equally long time. Kakashi chanced a quick glance over his shoulder to see her staring dully at the floor.

"Jeez, you're just trying to make my job difficult, aren't you?" Shikamaru sighed after a while, rummaging around in the pocket of his raincoat to find the right key. "Alright then. But don't say I didn't warn you about your new cellmate."

"Thank you," Kakashi said, stepping out once Shikamaru had unlocked the gate. He looked back at Sakura again, and their eyes met briefly before she turned away.

It was better this way, he decided, as Shikamaru led him away. He still wanted her now, and with every step away from her, his heart sank a little more and tried to butter him into changing his mind. But he didn't want to pressure that girl into something she wasn't ready for, or didn't want to have with him. It wasn't right or fair. He needed to leave her alone for a while and regain some mental balance.

Shikamaru led him further down the slope by at least two rows and led him across to the twentieth cell from the end. "Here you go," Shikamaru said flatly, unlocking the cell bars. "As you can see, you've _clearly_ traded up."

Kakashi looked inside and cursed.

It was the exceedingly bulky man with black and white hair who had mistaken him for his father on his first outing. Such an encounter had led to Kakashi breaking his nose, but he figured that this man without his cronies was about as harmless as a buttercup.

"Need anything else, just scream," Shikamaru said as he ushered Kakashi inside and locked the bars behind him. "Whether or not I'll come is a different matter…" Then he was off, his natural hospitable personality clearly dampened by the rain.

Kakashi sat down on his bunk and smiled amicably at his new cellmate who glowered back with pure malice. "Isn't this nice?" he said, with forced lightness. "Haven't seen you in a while. Almost didn't recognize you with your clothes on."

"Touch me and I'll kill you." But there was a note of fear in that voice.

Kakashi sighed, relaxing with the knowledge that he probably wouldn't get much more trouble of this man. He was probably still nursing cuts and bruises from the last time he'd crossed him. "Believe me, the last thing I would ever want to do in this life is voluntary touch you," he drawled, and promptly lay down and pretended to go to sleep.

Naturally he wouldn't fall actually sleep in the presence of this man unless he wanted to wake up dead. But he wouldn't have been able to fall asleep even if he'd wanted to. A certain pink-haired girl refused to give him any peace.

* * *

Sakura was still staring at the floor with her hands in her hair when Shikamaru returned. He leaned on the bars, shaking the rain off his sleeves. "You ok, Sakura?" 

She looked at him blankly. "Are you pretending to care?" she asked.

"No, not really," he replied coolly. "I have to ask, it's my job. Normally when prisoners ask for transfers it's because one tried to stab the other or something. You didn't try to stab Kakashi-san, did you?"

"I may have slapped him," she said, not wishing to reveal the whole truth when she could barely handle it herself.

"Sensitive guy…" Shikamaru deadpanned. "Well, take care and get some sleep. I think you have a hearing tomorrow afternoon."

"Joy."

"Huh. Maybe not. If Tsunade doesn't get back by then, the old crones of the council will be residing," Shikamaru informed her.

"Thanks, Shikamaru," she said while not really meaning it.

"Yeah, anytime." She had a feeling he didn't really mean it either, but what did it matter? He was gone shortly after and Sakura found herself alone again.

It didn't seem right.

After spending so long in such close confinement with Kakashi, the cell now seemed to be too big. Too empty. It was colder too for some reason, and she consoled herself by pulling the blanket around her shoulders.

Clearly she had made some error of judgment. She shouldn't have kissed Kakashi like that, because it was clearly something he hadn't wanted. Perhaps he just hadn't had any in a while and couldn't help his body's reaction to her. He evidently didn't want anything between them as he'd made that abundantly clear by damn well _fleeing_.

A half eaten bowl of ramen lay on the floor between the bunks, but she didn't have the heart to eat it. It was probably cold anyway.

She lay down on her bunk and dragged the blanket over her head, trying to ignore the faint twitches of desire and arousal in her stomach that remained after the encounter she'd just had. Merely the thought of Kakashi alone could make her entire body clench with yearning.

Damn him.

And damn Tsunade for not having gotten them out yet.

And damn that stupid man for accusing Sakura of manslaughter and damn Kakashi twice more for ever having turned up on her doorstep with the promise of a mission with his wily words aiming straight for her weakness, flattering her by telling her she was the only one who could help him.

The masked man who'd asked her for help seemed a completely different one than the man who had kissed her not so long ago. They even looked different. The Kakashi she'd been imprisoned with seemed more open and honest and just… so much more _human_. The kind of guy she could honestly see herself falling for.

Then she laughed. Well, at least he had made her forget completely about Kyuichi. Since the moment his lips had touched hers, she'd thought about no one else but Kakashi, and now she couldn't summon up the anger she'd felt for him before. Kyuichi seemed so trivial now. Compared to what had just changed between her and Kakashi, he had been pushed off the front page of the news and into the obituaries.

Then she noticed something else that cheered her up even more.

Kakashi had forgotten his book.

* * *

"God - _damn_ - it!" 

"What?"

"I forgot my book!"

"You can always read mine?"

"Yeah? What's it about?"

"The Mushroom Picker's Foolproof Field Guide. I've read it sixty-five times."

"…why not just ask someone to kick you repeatedly in the head, instead?"

It was not going to be an easy night. Again.

* * *

TBC 


	8. Day Seven

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Eight

Day Seven

* * *

Sakura awoke on the seventh morning to an aching knot in her stomach that had very little to do with hunger and everything to do with gut wrenching panic. 

Her first worry came in the form of the upcoming trial. No one had told her exactly what time it would take place, leaving her so wound up she flinched heavily every time a guard walked past, thinking it was her time. It didn't help that she didn't know what to expect either, having never been near this side of the Konoha justice system before.

Then there was the fact that Tsunade had yet to return. Or, if she had, she hadn't bothered to let Sakura know about it.

And of course there was Kakashi, who was quite possibly a more scary prospect than both Tsunade and the hearing put together. Kissing your teacher was one of those horribly embarrassing mistakes that neither of them would ever forget, wasn't it? And the way he'd shot off afterwards… like _he_ hadn't been the one to _initiate_ it in the first place!

_I'm never going to speak to that jerk ever again,_ she vowed on her bunk.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her forehead against them, listening to the weak wails of her own stomach. She was so far past the point of hunger now that she was beginning to feel sick, which was no good if she needed to be on top form for her trial. At this rate she would pass out before she had the chance to defend herself.

So when breakfast arrived, Sakura had never been so pleased to see anything in her life. The moment the bowl of gray gruel was pushed through the bars, Sakura pounced on it and tipped her head back to chug. It may have had the viscosity of vomit, and tasted a bit like it too, but right then it was the most delicious thing she'd ever put in her mouth. It wouldn't have been so bad if she'd managed to have some of that ramen yesterday. Kakashi had been eating his half when Kyuichi had dropped by to be an unavoidable asshole, and in Sakura's fit of rage the bowl had fallen and its contents were scattered across the corner of the cell. As hungry as Sakura was, she just didn't have the courage to eat ramen off this floor. She'd probably wake up tomorrow with the Ebola virus.

So prison gruel it was. It may not have been as filling as ramen, but at least it probably had more nutrients. Anything to get her strength back at this point was welcome.

She was feeling almost human again when Shikamaru's shadow fell across the bars and the jangle of keys could be heard. Sakura's heart flew into her throat.

"If you want to punch me and make a run for it, you're more than welcome," he said as he unlocked the gate. "I wouldn't blame you. I just saw your accuser, and he's out for blood."

Sakura shuddered. "Konoha stands for truth and justice, and the evidence is on our side. We'll be fine."

Shikamaru looked as if he almost pitied her, and Sakura began to miss Kakashi's unwavering confidence that things would turn out all right. It was far too easy to let her fear and depression get the better of her.

"Come on," Shikamaru said tiredly and stepped aside to make way for her.

Sakura stepped onto the damp wooden boards and looked around as Shikamaru locked up again. Further along the row of cells, someone else was being escorted out onto the walkway. Someone with white hair, pink clothes and…

Sakura hastily averted her gaze, pretending she hadn't noticed him even though she was sure he'd been looking at her the same moment she'd been looking at him. Something snapped around her wrists, making her jump.

"Handcuffs?" she squeaked at Shikamaru. Now she _really _felt like a criminal!

"Yeah, and if your trial goes badly, they won't be coming off…"

This concerned Sakura somewhat, because not only were the handcuffs joined by an inflexible bar that allowed for no movement whatsoever, but she noticed the cuffs themselves were engraved with seals. The kind that suppressed chakra.

It was a shame, because Sakura had always thought that if the worst came to the worst, she would always be able to use her jutsu or her strength to break down a wall or two and run to freedom (she had been planning on bringing Kakashi with her in the event of such a breakout, but, well, frankly he could go blow a badger for all she cared).

Sakura sighed the sigh of a long-suffering martyr and allowed herself to be frog marched along the walkway. Behind her there were footsteps following along which she was sure belonged to Kakashi and his own prison warden, but she didn't dare risk turning her head to look.

"Shikamaru," she began as they were led inside the squat little administrative buildings, "is Tsunade back yet?"

"How should I know?" he replied blithely. "They don't tell me anything."

"What about Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "Have you heard from-"

"Naruto said he was looking for Tsunade," Sakura interrupted, as if Kakashi had never spoken. "Please tell me he's at least managed to locate her."

"I haven't seen Naruto since he was here last," Shikamaru said bluntly, sending them both a curious glance over his shoulder. It was clear he knew something was up between the two, but for all his genius he couldn't suss what exactly it was. Nevertheless he seemed to decide it was just a typical falling out that would happen to any two friends forced to live on each other's toes for seven whole days.

They were made to wait for a long time in a waiting room with hard wooden seats and barred gates for doors. Sakura took her seat against one wall, and Kakashi sat a respectable distance away – not too far away to be obviously avoiding her, but not as close as they would have sat any time before yesterday. Rather than look at him or even acknowledge his presence, Sakura fiddled with her handcuffs, trying to figure out if they had any weaknesses she could exploit.

"You won't get them off, trust me" Kakashi said. "You'd need the key."

Sakura studiously ignored him and carried on fiddling.

When Shikamaru finally returned he ushered them away down a slim corridor. The trial was running late, but only because the elder's had just arrived. "Just remember two things," he told them as he hurried them along like _they _were the ones holding everything up. "Don't speak out of turn, and remain respectful towards the elders, whatever you do."

"That's most unfortunate," Kakashi mumbled.

"Why?" Shikamaru asked.

Sakura sighed. "He mentioned their old people smell last time he saw them."

Shikamaru paused like he was about to ask something, but then thought better of it and shook his head as they moving on.

The door to the courtroom was just like any other – a plain one. Having never been to a hearing or a trial, Sakura had no idea what to expect when she walked into that room, but it was safe to say she expected something a little more than _this_.

It was more classroom than courtroom, laid out like the old academy amphitheatre style. At the front was a desk, much like Iruka-sensei's but longer, and before it were enough seats to accommodate over fifty witnesses. Today they were only five.

The elders were sat at the desk at the front of the room, and their distaste for Kakashi and Sakura were obvious the moment they walked in the door. Contempt radiated off them in waves, and already Sakura knew that it would give these old farts no grief to sentence her and Kakashi to incarceration. She shivered at the cold thought. But there was someone else sitting at the table with them, and it was only because of the baleful stare he gave Sakura that she recognized him.

She was sorry the man had lost his daughter the way he had, but she had absolutely no sympathy for a man so wrapped up in grief and anger that he was willing to hurt others over it. She'd hoped that perhaps a week would give him time enough to sit back and think his actions through, but it appeared that he was just as angry as ever, and he would not go home satisfied until he'd seen what he thought of as justice served.

Their escorting guards herded them into the front seats where typically the teachers' pets might sit in a real classroom. Sakura's handcuffs clacked against the cold wooden desk. For a brief second she chanced a look at Kakashi, but he'd gone vague and was staring off into space. Immediately she knew there would be trouble. With Kakashi in this mood, and the elders in their mood, and with Miyazaki their accuser in _his_ tremendous mood, Sakura could already foresee how this hearing could go very bad very fast.

"We open at case fifteen, thirty-first of March," Elder Koharu began. "Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura… you stand accused of reckless endangerment during your last mission for Miyazaki-san; actions that led to the death of young girl. The charge is manslaughter. What have you to say for yourselves?"

Sakura waited, not sure she was even allowed to speak. Once again she looked at Kakashi, but he was ignoring the proceedings completely. "Um…" she said quietly and self-consciously. "We didn't do it."

"We have five witnesses that have already attested that your actions did indeed lead to the death of that poor girl," Koharu said. Sakura looked at the five men seated further back in the room behind her. They looked awfully familiar… sort of like the disgruntled ninja from other villages that she and Kakashi had cheated of their bounty.

"How much did you pay them off to attest that garbage?" Kakashi asked Miyazaki.

The man turned red with rage. Sakura elbowed her sensei hard in the ribs._"What do you think you're doing?"_she hissed.

Acting like a righteous asshole in here was not the way to get them out, no matter how much they were in the right. Sucking up and presenting honesty and polite, but irrefutable arguments for their innocence was their only chance.

"Could you perhaps explain in your words, Hatake-san, what took place?" Elder Homura asked.

"Pass," Kakashi replied curtly.

Sakura was near despairing. _What was he doing?!_

"Very well," Homura said, seemingly satisfied with that response. "What about you, Haruno-san?"

This was the moment Sakura had been waiting seven days for. Kakashi may be trying to be his utmost unhelpful self next to her, but _someone_ had to tell the truth of what happened that day. "Well Kakashi approached me that morning, offering me a position on his team for that mission-"

"Miyazaki's mission?" Koharu interrupted.

"Uh… yes." Obviously. "And I agreed, so we set off-"

"Alone?"

Sakura looked from elder to elder. "Is there a problem with that?"

"The mission recommended a minimum team of five," Koharu said, squinting at a sheet of paper in her hand. "I have the specifications of it right here."

Kakashi hadn't mentioned this nugget of information. She looked at him expectantly, but all he did was shrug. "Three more people would have been unnecessary. Maybe more mediocre shinobi would require a team of five," he said, shooting a glance at the 'witnesses' behind them, "but me and Sakura managed perfectly well on our own."

"Hardly!" Miyazaki snapped. "You bungled the mission and got my daughter killed!"

"Nothing we did that day could have saved your daughter," Sakura protested. "By the time you posted that mission, she was probably already dead, sir."

Miyazaki opened his mouth to tell her what he thought of that, but Elder Koharu held up her hand to stop him. "If you please, Hisao," she said. "We're obligated to hear their defense uninterrupted."

Oh great. They were on a first name basis. Kakashi hadn't been kidding when he'd said Miyazaki was friends with the elders. She'd been hoping that wouldn't lead to bias, but so far it wasn't looking promising. All she could do was swallow hard and valiantly plod forth.

"When we arrived, no one had broken through the barrier set up by the rogues yet," she went on. "I used the techniques Tsunade-shishou taught me to break in, and when Kakashi suspected there was another barrier, we went to look for it and found it first."

"Implausible," Homura said shortly. "There were fifty other men signed on to that mission. Where were they?"

"Elsewhere," Sakura said fretfully. "Look, we didn't want to lose the bounty so naturally we worked fast to get a head start on the others."

"So you found the second barrier. What then?" Koharu prompted.

Sakura glanced at Kakashi; he was still unhelpful. "That's where we found them. I broke down the barrier, and while Kakashi-sensei occupied the rogues, I found the girl in case she needed medical attention. But she was already dead."

"Because _you_ killed her with your careless techniques!" Miyazaki accused loudly.

"I did no such thing!" Sakura yelped in defense. "The jutsu is only like sending massive vibrations through the rocks - they crumble and sometimes the pressure forces the debris towards the user, but it never goes the other way. Anyone looking at the scene could see that the debris was out in the tunnel! There was none in the chamber at all! There was definitely none near the girl!"

"Perhaps you would like to tell your side now?" Koharu asked Miyazaki.

"Gladly," he said through ground teeth. "But what can I say that I haven't already? I sent for the strongest in the land to save my daughter, but I was not expecting such buffoons to turn up and I hope you screen your shinobi applicants more carefully in future, Koharu. In any case I arrived not long after that girl used explosives or something to break down a tunnel wall. The chamber was littered with rubble! It had clearly crushed all the men in that room, along with my daughter. She lay as battered and bloody as the rest. It was all that dreadful girl's fault, and her teacher's too for bringing such a reckless novice along with him on such a sensitive mission in the first place. I was forced to hold dead daughter in my arms that day, and look upon her lifeless face and carry her stiffened body home!"

Sakura slammed her handcuffs down on the table. "See! You said it just there! Your daughter was stiff, wasn't she? You're describing rigor mortis – it's where the chemicals break down in the muscles and the body goes rigid. It happens several hours after the initial death though. There's no way rigor mortis could have set in between the few minutes I broke the barrier and you arrived."

Everyone looked at Miyazaki; the witnesses, the elders, the prison guards standing nearby, and even Kakashi seemed to finally take an interest in the proceedings to glance at Miyazaki and await his reaction.

The man blustered, turning from red to a rather alarming shade of purple, and then a curious shade of white. What did a man deluded with grief and driven to extremism do when confronted with evidence that he was mistaken?

"It was a figure of speech!" he snarled. "My daughter was not stiff! She was still warm even! You killed her with your careless disregard! You were only concerned about the money – not my daughter's life! You killed her!"

"I did not!" Sakura shouted back.

"You did! I saw you!"

"You just said you weren't there!"

Miyazaki was losing control. "Koharu! Homura! If you let these two scoundrels get away with what they've done I'll immediately withdraw my financial support for you military. And once Kenzaki-dono also hears of this terrible miscarriage of justice, he too will most likely pull his funding!"

The only sound in the room was Kakashi's smothered chuckles behind his hand. The two elders looked at each and down at their papers. It couldn't have been more obvious what they were thinking. They knew their friend was wrong, but would stop at nothing to get his own way. Between Miyazaki and Kenzaki came over a quarter of Konoha's military budget, and without that, Konoha would fall into a quick decline and lose its already precarious position as one of the five leading shinobi villages.

Suddenly Sakura realized what Kakashi had known all along.

They didn't have a hope in hell. The conclusion of this trial had already been decided long before they stepped through the door, and no amount of talking or evidence or fact or _truth_ would change their fate now.

"Do you have nothing at all to add, Hatake-san?" Koharu asked the taciturn man beside Sakura.

"I don't plan on lowering myself to the level of indulging this charade," Kakashi said coldly. "This trial is a joke. You're nothing but two spineless old goats licking the boots of the rich. The only thing I look forward to is what you plan to say to the Hokage when she returns and finds you've locked up her best jonin and her own apprentice."

"You're so sure she's going to return at all?" Homura asked.

Kakashi went still and Sakura sat up straighter. "What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

The elders merely stared at them. Koharu went on, "In light of the circumstances, and for the testimony we have been presented by the witnesses, we have no choice but to detain the two of you. You are both hereby sentenced to eighteen months in prison. There will be no visitation rights, or probation. Let this be a lesson to you. Reckless shinobi will not be tolerated within our ranks." She nodded at the guards. "Take them away."

There was no use in protesting. Sakura numbly let herself be dragged to her feet and pushed out of the door after Kakashi. 'Bewildered' didn't quite cover how Sakura felt right then as she tottered along in the single-file procession through corridors to places she didn't know. "You said we'd be alright," she whispered to Kakashi's back. "You promised me this wouldn't happen."

He said nothing so she turned to the guards. "Where is Tsunade-shishou?" she asked softly. The only guard she knew was Shikamaru, but all he could do was shake his head helplessly. He knew no more than she did.

"Kakashi, what happens now?" she asked. "What are we going to do?"

"Sakura," he said steadily. "You're just going to have to sit tight for a while. I promise I'll fix this."

But how?

They were being led deeper into the complex, down long flights of stairs where the air grew colder and damp. Sakura wasn't calm enough to track their exact path, but she knew that they were going under the mountain, and barred gate after barred gate opened before them and shut behind again with the snap of a lock. This was where the real prisoners were kept. S class criminals and other despicable sorts that stood no chance of escape.

And the further they went down, the more Sakura became aware of the horrible echoes – of the shouts and screams and howls and crying. It sounded like she was entering a lunatic asylum. The sounds grew louder and louder until the stairs ended and it seemed like the sounds of hysterical human voices were pressing all around them. Sakura was not an easily intimidated girl, but there was no denying she was on edge. She did _not_ belong here.

"Kakashi…" she whispered, wanting to reach out for his arm or his hand. She might have done, if her hands hadn't been shackled and a guard hadn't suddenly situated himself between them. Right then she would have given anything just to touch him. Whatever had happened yesterday was irrelevant; pushed from her mind in light of the disaster that was taking place. She didn't care that he'd kissed her – or she'd kissed him – because there was only room for awkwardness when they _weren't_ being plunged into a maximum security prison.

Ushered over to an administration desk, the guards began patting them down in search of any smuggled goods while the desk-workers signed and stamped papers with the bored, grumpy expressions of people doing tedious jobs in a very unpleasant place.

"Find him a place in section C, there's some room there," one of the administrator's said. "Put the girl in section H."

Sakura resisted the hands that tried to move her. "Wait, I'm with him," she insisted, realizing she sounded like they were guests at a restaurant. "I'm going with him."

"Men and women are separated," the administrator dead-panned without even looking up from his documents. "For obvious reasons."

Hands pushed at her more firmly now, urging her one way down the leading corridor while Kakashi was lead the other. "Wait – no! Kakashi! I want to go with Kakashi!" she tried to follow, but now the guards had their arms looped through hers and were dragging. She dug her heels in. "Let go of me!"

"Sakura, it's ok," Kakashi said, smiling at her vaguely like all was well. He wasn't resisting. "Just do as they say."

It felt like a betrayal, but what could he do? He was going to let them take him away and lock him up, and knowing Kakashi he would bear it like a saint for the whole eighteen months and be unable to understand why Sakura didn't have the same patience. "Kakashi…" she gasped, feeling a lump rise hard in her throat. Then she was whisked around a corner and he was gone from sight. Sakura wondered if that was the last time she would see him.

No, no, she was overreacting. There were people on the outside who would do something. Naruto would not sit there while his friend and mentor were incarcerated. Neither would Sasuke, who hated breaking in new team members to replace ones lost to the judicial system. But most importantly, it was Tsunade who they needed the most. Whenever she returned from wherever the hell it was she'd gone, she'd fix this in ten seconds flat. Only the Hokage had the power to veto the council's decision… but what if she too was unable to go against blackmail? What if Tsunade herself decided it was worth sacrificing two shinobi for the sake of the village? Sakura realized that if the decision were up to her, she'd be awfully tempted to let them rot in prison.

Sakura shivered, and it wasn't just with nerves. It was _cold!_ The walls here were bare rock, sweating moisture and leaving small, cold puddles strewn over the ground that Sakura had no choice but to step through. After a while she could no longer feel her toes. Electric lights that really did nothing to illuminate the passages ran overhead on wires, some broken, most just flickering and making humming sounds.

The last gate stood before a final door at the end of the long, descending corridor of rock. She noticed how meticulously the guards opened and locked the gate after her before opening the door, and Sakura quickly found out why.

On the other side was a large hall – more of a square cavern really – lined with tables and benches and even more puddles of condensation. And the moment the door opened, Sakura could say with confidence that no fewer than three hundred women stopped what they were doing and looked up at her.

It was like walking into a cage of tigers and having them all stop gnawing on their cow legs to eye up the live goat that had just been shove through the food flap. They were all sorts of shapes and sizes and varying ages, but they all shared a haggard, malicious look about them that told Sakura that any difficulties she had imagined she would have with other inmates had seriously underestimated the reality. Sakura had never been met with such a solid wall of utter contempt and hatred before.

And the guards, bless them, turned and left her to it without so much as a word of induction. They didn't plan to give her the tour and show her where the bathrooms were or when she would eat, or where she could sleep. At least they had the grace to unlock the ghastly bar connecting her cuffs, so at least she could move her hands more freely, even though the seals suppressing her chakra remained. The door clanged shut with a bang behind her and the goat stood in stiff horror beneath the gaze of so many hungry tigers. Any second now the alpha female would come leaping out to tear her throat out.

Tense, awkward moments passed and Sakura fidgeted, trying her best not to look like a squeaky-clean seventeen year old girl and perhaps more like a hardened criminal that these women would be more inclined to ignore. It did not help that her hair was pink, that her clothes were dyed pink, and that the toe nails peeping out from beneath the hems of her too-big prison issue pants were painted _glittery_ pink .

Then one by one they started to turn their attention back to what they'd been doing before Sakura had entered – namely games with dice and cups and conversation.

"They'll lock up anyone for anything these days," she heard one of the nearest women mutter to her group. "This place is really going downhill."

* * *

"…and that's how I rescued all six orphans and their pet kittens from the tyrannical tax man who sexually abused them. I knew I would go down a long time for his murder… but I could not stand to do nothing." Kakashi ended on a true martyr's sigh. "And I hadn't paid my taxes in three years so…" 

"See, that's typical," inmate number 3896 said bitterly. "The law serves the rich only. Us normal people get stuck with the raw deal and when we try to do anything about our situation they just throw us in here. I'm with you, man."

"Hear, hear!"

"That's right, man!"

Kakashi looked around at the motley group of men around him. "You know, this isn't so bad. I was under the impression you'd all be awful brutes who'd rape me in the shower."

"Yeah, you might still want to watch out for that."

"Oh," Kakashi said disappointedly. "When do they feed us in this place?"

"Whenever they feel like it," was the reply from a younger man on Kakashi's right who had a scar crossing his eye that was almost as vicious as Kakashi's.

"And the food?" Kakashi ventured. "Is it good?"

"If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger."

"And the ladies?"

"There ain't no ladies here," they guffawed.

"Except maybe _that_ one. She's some noble who's in for killing her husband and assorted lovers, and she's a class act all the way. But for obvious reasons you wouldn't want to bother with her."

"Unless you like that sort of thing."

"So you've seen the female prisoners?" Kakashi asked, remaining deceptively casual.

"Sure," one of his new friends replied. "There's only one food hall. All the prisoners have to eat together, but that's the only time we see the women."

Excellent. He wasn't completely cut off from Sakura in that case, and he only had to wait till meal time to see her. If nothing else, he just wanted to talk to her and be able to reassure themselves that they were alright. Well, _he_ was alright. He'd been imprisoned so many times in so many different countries that there was little that could happen here that would surprise him. It was always the same kind of people here - most rotten and despicable, the rest completely insane with the odd deceptively sane and reasonable looking individual who was either innocent or the most dangerous of the lot. Sakura on the other hand was only just seventeen and she simply didn't deserve to be in this place. She was a capable girl in many ways, but even tough girls would suffer here.

The one thing he remembered well about prisons was how boredom could quickly sneak up on you. There wasn't much to do when you were roughly half a mile beneath a mountain other than perhaps catch pneumonia and die. There was no outdoors to speak of, and entertainment was limited to what the guards would allow, and these were namely card games, dice games, or punching games.

Kakashi was already well familiar with the general layout of the prison – more so of the back passages used by the guards than the main areas where the prisoners congregated during the day. But he'd walked up and down past these cells a hundred times at least with an ANBU mask on his face. He knew roughly where all the facilities lay, so there wasn't much to explore anyhow. Nevertheless he spent the best part of the morning idly scouting around for changes since his last visit, counting the locked gates that led to the guard's quarters and examining his cuffs. As far as anyone else was concerned, he was invisible. Even the ANBU guards who walked in pairs, either bringing or retrieving inmates for 'questioning', didn't notice him as they went past, despite his name being infamous within their ranks.

Although if he was honest, it was probably just the sight of his bare face that made him so seemingly average and unremarkable all of a sudden.

Somewhere around what Kakashi assumed was midday (since there were no clocks in this place) a bell rang deep in the prison. The men around him packed in their games and began slouching off down the corridor in what appeared to be a daily routine. Kakashi feared the worst.

Lunchtime.

A new chamber had been unlocked and they were allowed inside a room probably twice as large as the communal chambers where the prisoners wiled most their days away, only here one wall opened onto kitchens where a row of dreary looking men stood with ladles and whole troughs of gruel. Kakashi sighed inwardly and followed suit with everyone else who was collecting a chipped bowl from the available stash against the wall and forming an wandering, if a rather unenthusiastic line. There was some pushing from those who just liked to push for the sake of it, and in such cases Kakashi allowed himself to be pushed, but mostly no one was rushing to eat.

On the other side of the room was forming a much more orderly line of female prisoners, emerging from an opposite door. Which was great for Kakashi's plans of remaining in contact Sakura, if not for the barricade of unsurpassable bars that separated the female side of the canteen from the male side. Kakashi was left staring rather hard at the line of women, searching for one short, pink-haired girl. At least his behavior didn't stick out much. Pretty much _all_ the male prisoners were staring at the women.

Disappointed, Kakashi broke his act of invisibility and turned to the slightly cowed looking man behind him. "Is this as close as we ever get to them?" he asked, nodding at the other side of the room.

Judging from the man's dismayed sigh, it was.

There wasn't even any chance of speaking to the one of the women, or of the women speaking to the men, as there were four guards stationed on either side of the bars, warding off anyone who tried to stop and chat with the opposite sex.

But as Kakashi collected his bowl of slop and found a place at one of the middle benches to eat, he began to grow worried. The female half of the hall were almost all seated now with only a few women still lining up for food, and not one of them appeared to have pink hair.

Kakashi put down his spoon after only a few mouthfuls and sat gazing worriedly at the lines of women. Several were easily large enough to have devoured her whole.

"You act like you've never seen women before," someone said next to him. "I thought you only arrived this morning? You can't be that desperate already."

Kakashi ignored him. He didn't sound entirely right in the head anyway.

"I know the foods not great, but you should eat."

"I will, in time," Kakashi said distractedly. Couldn't the man see he was deeply concerned about a pink-haired young woman who should have been sitting down to eat like everyone else right now?

"What are you in for anyway?"

Annoyed, Kakashi turned to fix the man beside him with a _look_. "Cannibalism," he said evenly and turned back to observing the female half. It must have worked because no one said another word to him after that.

_There!_

Kakashi almost stood up in his relief to see Sakura entering the hall through the side door. She moved slowly, picking up one of the last few bowls – usually the dirtiest ones that everyone else had discarded – and held it out to one of the serving women.

Most of the gruel ladled into her bowl appeared to go over her hand too, and slowly Sakura turned to search for a place to sit. Already Kakashi could see she was struggling. Anywhere there appeared to be a place to sit, women suddenly shuffled closer together and closed the gap. Sakura stood looking hopelessly about, until she settled for a completely deserted table further away from anyone else.

Kakashi didn't realize he was on his feet and moving towards the dividing bars until one of the guards had stepped in front of him. "Sit down, inmate."

"I need to talk to her," Kakashi said.

"No consorting between male and female inmates," the guard said sternly. "This isn't a dating service. If you've finished, leave."

He could feel several eyes fixing on his back, and even some of the women had turned to stare cattily at him. Of course, Sakura hadn't noticed at all. She was too busy picking at her gruel in a glum, hunched sort of way.

Kakashi had to get her out of this place.

But there wasn't much point making a scene with one of the guards right now. Without further ado he turned and sat back down to drum his fingers against the stone table, feeling tense and restless. One of the inmates two tables over was laughing riotously about something or other, and for a moment Kakashi's concentration was broken as he glanced over in annoyance. Then inspiration struck like a bolt of lightning (things he was awfully good at catching) and he swiftly picked up his half-eaten bowl of gruel and lobbed it at the happy man.

Yelling, cursing and spitting rang over a suddenly hushed room. "Who threw that?"

Kakashi pointed shamelessly at the large man opposite him.

Several scuffles broke out all at once. The happy man, who was now distinctly pissed, was struggling against the hands of his friends to give the large man a piece of his mind, while the large man himself made a grab at Kakashi for his sheer cheek. But just because his chakra had been sealed did not mean Kakashi was at all slow. He slipped out of reach the first time those meaty hands swiped at him, and when instead a bowl of gruel came flying at _his_ head, he promptly ducked. The whole table behind him got splattered.

Everything pretty much went downhill from there. What were minor scuffles broke out into fights, and what were a few fights began escalating as more and more people joined in to either run off their own frustrations or try and fruitlessly break it up. The guards, all four of them, were powerless. The women had abandoned their tables to crowd against the bars to chant encouragement. Nobody noticed the scarred man who had started it all slipping away along the wall to meet the bars.

While pandemonium erupted behind him, and with everyone safely distracted, Kakashi called out to her. "Sakura!"

Unlike the other women who had got up to watch the brawl, Sakura had remained seated. But her back was to him and the noise was too much for her to hear her name, so he took up one of the fallen spoons and carefully tossed it through the bars to let it skid across her table. Sakura started sharply and turned her head to search behind her warily. She couldn't have look more hunted if she'd tried, but when her gaze landed on him, her entire body softened with relief. A little color returned to her face and she hurriedly got to her feet to join him at the bars.

"I didn't think I'd see you again," she said miserably under the din of brawling men. "but is this really the only way we can communicate?"

Kakashi didn't reply. He was too busy examining her face. "You're injured," he pointed out.

Sakura touched a hand to the ugly purple bruise that was developing on her brow around three paper stitches. "Yeah…" she said uncomfortably. "I'm not very popular here. I've only been here a few hours, and most of that was spent in the infirmary."

His heart went out to her "Sakura," he began, and tried to reach though the bars to touch her – only his cuffs clanged against them, stopping him. That was when the frustration really got to him. He could deal with being wrongly accused on manslaughter, of having his reputation tarnished completely, of having devices slapped on his wrists that suppressed his chakra, and being thrown into a prison where his chastity would be under severe threat, but not being able to reach out at that moment to cup Sakura's cheek was probably the first thing that had made him truly angry. He was quite sure that his anger alone could have given him the strength to bend those bars right there and then.

But his temper diffused immediately when Sakura's daintier hands slipped through the bars to take hold of his hands. He was still angry at the injustice of it all, but simply being able to touch her gave him enough calm to abandon thoughts of vandalism.

"What are we going to do?" she asked, her cold hands squeezing his tightly.

"Escape," he said simply. "That was the plan wasn't it?"

"Is that even possible?"

He wasn't sure, so he just squeezed her hands back and tried to rub some warmth into them.

"And if we escape, then what?" Sakura pressed.

"We'll go and live on that farm together like we said," he told her with certainty. "With chickens and a goat or two, overlooking a hundred rice paddies."

"Will it have a pond?" she asked, and flinched as a bowl rebounding off the bars a few feet away.

"It'll have a lake."

"And what about our friends?" she asked.

"We'll send for them in secret, because we can trust them not to give us away. But I'm afraid it will mostly just be the two of us."

"I don't mind," Sakura said, shaking her head. "I actually miss our cell when it was just the two of us. I've never felt so agoraphobic in my life."

There was that compulsive urge to kiss her again, and he probably would have done if there hadn't been all these bars in the way. He could only lean his forehead against them and sigh. "I'll think of something. I promise."

"Well, don't rush on my account," Sakura told him dryly.

"I think I might have to. I don't want to waste time and give the person who did that to you a second chance."

"What, this?" Sakura touched her head again. "Oh, she's still in the infirmary. She hasn't come round yet."

"Pardon?"

"You think I'll let some old bitch take a swing at me without retaliating? What do you take me for, some kind of drippy teenage girl?"

"Of course you're a drippy teenage girl."

"Ok, yes, but my right hook is still something to reckon with even when I have no chakra to enhance it," she said tritely. "I give myself about a day before she gets out and comes to get even with me."

He sighed. "I should have warned you that the way to survive in prison is to remain invisible, _not_ to pick fights."

She looked suspiciously at the fight still raging over his shoulder, before uttering a shrewd hum. "But it's not like I could even attempt invisibility, Kakashi. My hair is kind of obnoxious."

"Your hair is lovely."

She looked up at him gratefully, but with a touch of shyness. She seemed unsure of him more now than she had before, and he suspected this might have been because of what had transpired last night. It probably wasn't all that reassuring to a girl's self-confidence that the man she kissed would suddenly want to run away, but he didn't know what to say. 'Sorry I left, Sakura dear, only I was worried I might end up taking even more sexual advantage of you if I stayed a moment longer'? That was sure to go over like a lead balloon. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but neither did he want to overwhelm. Although judging from the cold shoulder she'd given him most of the morning, he could safely assumed he'd managed to do the former anyway.

So when she turned her face up and pressed a gentle, tentative kiss to his lips through the bars, Kakashi was left a little surprised. He could tell it had taken a lot of courage, and that she was willing to forget about last night seeing as how they couldn't afford to be at odds right now. And she was looking at him so uncertainly, as if there could be any doubt about his desire to reciprocate.

Well, he tried to. But once again his wrist cuffs clanged against the bars as he forgot he couldn't reach out to pull her close. Then there were rough hands grabbing his shoulders and the back of his shirt, pulling him away. It seemed the guards had finally figured out who was the major culprit in this riot.

"Looks like we have a candidate for solitary confinement, eh?"

Kakashi would have naturally objected, but he could see that the temporary riot was calming and that he himself would soon be at the mercy of this mob once they too realized who had started it, so he meekly went along with them like the model of a well-behaved prisoner. His last glimpse of Sakura before he was dragged out of the mess hall was of a worried frown, although he felt her concern was misplaced. _He_ would be fine. He'd served longer sentences in worse prisons, and he had every intension of treating this like an unexpected vacation. But Sakura…?

He already had one escape plan in mind that he'd formulated when he'd visited all those times as an ANBU agent. In theory you were supposed to report all security weaknesses in this prison to the Hokage, but in practice that wouldn't be a good idea… especially if you should ever find yourself in here for whatever reason. But the problem with this plan was that he'd only been thinking of himself when he'd devised it. He'd never had the foresight to think he'd be tossed in here with his younger teammate who wouldn't know the first thing about planning a break-out, and it seemed to him that it would be more difficult to get to Sakura than it was just to get _out_.

The guards dropped him in a single cage in a barren room down one of the isolated corridors he'd occasionally visited to observe interrogations. He knew the routine. They would leave him here for about a week to let him stew in near isolation and withhold food and blankets on a whim, simply because there were no other privileges to take away. Kakashi didn't particularly care. The only irritating prospect was that he could no longer wander freely around the prison and continue to search out for the weaknesses he remembered, and neither could he at least glimpse Sakura during dinner to check she was still in possession of all her limbs.

There was nothing else to do; he had to put a plan into action, even though the only one he had right now was decidedly shaky.

* * *

Shikamaru stood as the weight of over thirty different angry voices pressed down on him. It wasn't unusual for some friends and family of inmates to turn up at prison reception and start making a nuisance of themselves, but it was something entirely when the majority of people making demands were themselves quite important people in the Konoha hierarchy. Shikamaru counted several jonin acquainted with Kakashi, several more medic-nins associated with Sakura, and even some of the Hokage's personal staff had turned up to bollock whoever was unfortunate enough to be on duty that day. But probably the worst of all was Ino. She was certainly the loudest. 

"That girl can't kill someone even when she tries! How the hell is she supposed to have accidentally killed anyone?" Ino shrieked. "Let them out right now, Shikamaru! Enough of this nonsense!"

"You're facilitating institutionalized corruption!" someone else accused him. "Fascist!"

Shikamaru sighed inwardly and tried to explain to the deaf crowd that there was absolutely nothing any of them could do legally that didn't result in even more imprisonment. The only person with the power to pardon and exonerate Kakashi and Sakura completely was the Hokage, and with her gone, the council was pulling all the strings. While some were out right now looking for the missing woman and making themselves useful, the rest were here being decidedly unhelpful and shrill.

Someone tugged on the back of Shikamaru's uniform. He turned his head to find another guard leaning forward to whisper in his ear. "Kakashi-sempai wants to speak to you."

That sounded like more fun than standing here being berated, so Shikamaru swapped places with the other guard and slipped quietly away.

It was a good ten to fifteen minute walk from reception to the cold, dank rooms in the bowels of the prison where those in isolation were kept. As he approached the room where Kakashi was being held, he carefully withdrew a kunai. He was sure that the man's thoughts would have turned to escape by now, and while that was expected of most prisoners, you just couldn't be too careful around former elite jonin. If Kakashi planned escape, he would escape. There was nothing so sure as that. And since he was a genius, calling a friendly guard to his cell was the first step Shikamaru would take too.

As he pushed his way through the door he braced himself, half expecting to be knocked out cold before he could even get his bearings.

Kakashi blinked at him mildly from behind the bars of his cage.

Probably a trick. Shikamaru stood tensely, refusing to drop his guard. "You wanted to speak to me?"

"Do you have the time?" Kakashi asked.

Shikamaru glanced at his watch. "Nine past five," he said. "Was there a reason you couldn't ask the other guard?"

"He didn't have a watch," Kakashi said pleasantly.

Yep, there was definitely something going on. Shikamaru glanced around the room, looking for anything out of place. He sensed he was being distracted, probably so some trap or another could be sprung on him unawares. Finding nothing he took a step towards the door. "If that's all then..."

"I wouldn't move if I were you," Kakashi warned.

Shikamaru froze. "Why?"

"I've dug a pit at your feet and there's a tiger hiding in the bottom of it," Kakashi said quite seriously. "You might not have noticed it because I covered it with leaves."

Shikamaru relaxed slightly. Perhaps his wariness was a bit obvious, but… "I know you're up to something," he said stiffly.

"Yes, but not yet," Kakashi said shrugging. "I actually wanted to get some clarification on a matter that's been bugging me."

"Oh?"

"I've forgotten the prison's stance on conjugal visitation," Kakashi began nonchalantly. "I'm pretty sure they were allowed last time I visited."

Now_ that_ was an odd question. Shikamaru shifted uncomfortably. "Only if you're married. Are you married?"

"Yes. I was married about two weeks ago. Civil marriage, of course."

"Congratulations," Shikamaru said flatly.

"Thank you," Kakashi said graciously. "You can offer your regards to my dear wife when you see her. She's in cell block H, I believe."

Shikamaru relaxed completely and packed his kunai away. He gave Kakashi an incredulous smile. "Right. You're married to Sakura, and now you want a conjugal visit to strengthen your marital bonds in a private room together."

"Precisely."

"Do you think you're the first to pull this one?"

"I was hoping."

"Well, here's a few problems with your plan. A – you're not married-"

"Sure we are. Just ask her."

"B, you need at least six months good behavior to be allowed visits from your loved ones-"

"I've been very good these last few months."

"You haven't even been here a day and you both have infractions. You for starting a riot and Sakura for putting the biggest woman in the place in the infirmary."

"Details."

"And C; the council very specifically denied you any visitation rights, and that extends to the conjugal variety."

"Only because they don't want us talking to anyone on the outside. Sakura is very much inside, so what do they care?"

"Of course it's not in the same spirit, but it's a technicality. The fact is there is no way you're going to get a private session with Sakura so you can both plan an escape."

Kakashi looked wrong. "I just want a few hours with my lovely wife. How could you deny a man this most basic right?"

"Food, water, and air are your most basic rights here," Shikamaru rebuked. "And even then that's debatable. I can't break the rules here, Kakashi-sensei, there's no way I can organize this for you."

He turned and walked towards the door, because he already felt wretched enough as it was and he hated having to face this wronged man. "Tsunade-sama will probably turn up in a day or so anyway," he pointed out, "and then you'll be free."

"And if she doesn't turn up?" Kakashi also pointed out. "If she's been captured or killed, then what? Did she name her successor? Even if she has, will the council merely overrule her and select someone_ they_ want to see in power? I hear they're quite keen on Danzou, who is not nearly so keen on anyone friendly with Naruto, so I can easily see us being left in here for the next year and a half. But I reckon Sakura only needs another week or so before she winds up with irreparable mental scars… or at least inflicts them upon some other unfortunate inmate."

"That's always possible," Shikamaru conceded, "But you do realize that you're just digging yourself a deeper hole by reacting this way? Just sit tight for now. Making rash decisions right now is only going to cause problems, and I am _not_ going to help you do that."

He tried to leave again.

"Is that really the right choice to make?" Kakashi asked. "Sticking to the rules for the sake of rules, despite this being a clear miscarriage of justice? Sakura doesn't deserve to be here, and neither do I to some extent. Sometimes you have to do the right thing, even if it means breaking the rules. That is what being a ninja is all about."

Shikamaru remained unimpressed. "If I had a cake for every time someone said something questionable and followed it up with 'that's what being a ninja is all about', I'd be as fat as Chouji."

"Just ask yourself what you will look back on with the most pride. Acting like another cog in a broken machine, or actually helping two people who need your help?" Kakashi said, leaning on the bars. "It's entirely up to you, Shikamaru-kun. The fate of my lovely wife and I is in your hands."

"Oh, don't," Shikamaru groaned, feeling pressured. "You and your lovely wife are a troublesome pair."

Kakashi smiled amiably. "What do you think Asuma would tell you to do?"

"He'd say Hatake Kakashi got everything he ever deserved," Shikamaru said dryly.

"And after that?"

Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. "I have things to do," he drawled and slipped out the door before Kakashi could slide another dagger between his ribs and aim right for his heart.

Why did he have to bring up Asuma? Of course Asuma was the kind of person to give the establishment the finger and do whatever the hell he wanted as long as it was 'right', and reminding Shikamaru of that left him very little choice.

Sakura was hiding in one of the empty cells when he found her, reading a historical romance novel that she appeared to have borrowed off the floor. She jumped when he entered, probably expecting him to be another inmate looking to bully the new girl. Shikamaru imagined she was an irresistible target with that much pink on her person and with that aura of goody-two-shoes, and Shikamaru had worked in this prison long enough to know that the female prisoners were twice as vindictive, creative and psychological when it came to torturing fellow inmates.

"Yes?" she asked, smoothing her rumpled hair.

"Your husband wants to see you," he told her.

She scowled. "Oh, go away," she snapped, turning back to her book. "I'm not in the mood for jokes."

"This isn't a joke," Shikamaru said leadingly. "Your husband, Hatake Kakashi, is entitled to a conjugal visit."

Sakura stared at him. "Isn't a conjugal visit a sex visit?"

"Essentially, yes-"

"Go away!" Sakura shouted. "Go away and tell my _husband_ to stop getting ideas – it was only a kiss!"

It was safer not to ask. "So you're turning down the visit?"

"Yes!"

"A visit to see Kakashi privately in a private room for two private hours where you may discuss any number of things… privately?"

This gave Sakura pause. "Ok. But is the sex mandatory?"

"No, but I'm beginning to think you wouldn't mind if it was," Shikamaru said, smirking. "Did you really kiss him?"

"Shut up."

"Come on then. I have paperwork to forge." Shikamaru gestured for her to get up and steered her out of the cell as if she was just another prisoner he was having to escort.

Sakura seemed nervous, but at the same time she was quite obviously pleased at the prospect of seeing Kakashi again. "You're too good to work in this place, Shikamaru," she told him.

"Well, that may be true, but I doubt I'll be working here much longer after this."

* * *


	9. Break Out

* * *

Seven Days

Chapter Nine

BREAK

* * *

Kakashi ran tired hands over his face and through his hair, wondering what the hell was taking so long. The lost sense of time was maddening. At least in the penitentiary on the surface keeping track of the day was easy when you could look out your own cell and watch the sun and the moon sliding across the sky, and you could even use the shadows cast by the bars as a sad sort of sundial. When the shadow of the third bar from the right hit the crack in the concrete near the edge of the bunk, you knew dinner was on the way. But down here where there were no windows or clocks, judging the time was difficult. He could guess from how hot and tired his eyes had become that it was moving well into the night, and it had certainly been several hours since he'd last seen Shikamaru, although how many hours he couldn't say exactly.

But time-keeping was a problem he planned to resolve soon enough. He just needed Sakura with him before he could do anything more, but judging from how long it had been since Shikamaru had left, he was beginning to doubt that he'd get to see her at all. Even if Shikamaru had decided it was worth getting in trouble for them, he wasn't in a position of high authority amongst the prison employees. If someone above Shikamaru had noticed him attempting to arrange a conjugal visitation for two badly behaved prisoners without a marriage certificate…?

A clatter of footsteps approaching in the corridor outside made Kakashi sit bolt upright. He dared to hope…

He was not reassured when only Shikamaru entered.

"Was there a problem?" Kakashi asked.

"Only the typical ones you can expect when making an illegal arrangement," Shikamaru said darkly as he moved forward to unlock Kakashi's cage. "You're lucky no one gives a shit about prisoners in this place. Practically interchangeable as far as most are concerned, so if anyone asks, you two are Mr. And Mrs. Takahashi. I had to use a few genjutsu to fool the overseers, but I managed to secure one of the conjugal rooms. Sakura's waiting there now."

Kakashi hesitated. "Does she seem… alright to you?"

Shikamaru knew exactly what he meant. "I think she believes you intend to ravage her."

"Don't you mean 'ravish'?"

"No. She probably wouldn't mind _that_."

With a sigh, Kakashi allowed himself to be escorted out of the cage and into the corridor. They passed through several gates and walked by many guards, but none seemed to think anything was out of place when they saw Kakashi. He suspected that Shikamaru was working a mild genjutsu – just enough to divert suspicion but not strong enough to be detected. A lot of the guards here were well verse on how to detect such tricks.

The conjugal chambers lay uncomfortably close to the guards quarters, partly because he knew they doubled as interrogation rooms. There were several perfectly good unused rooms elsewhere that could have been used for conjugal visits, but for some strange reason, it was _always_ the interrogation rooms that couples were directed into.

Ok, it wasn't that strange a reason, or really all that surprising, Kakashi thought, as they finally stopped beside a bolted door and Shikamaru swiftly unlocked it to push it open. Revealed behind it was a pink-clad Sakura with her face and hands pressed up against a mirror on the opposite wall. She turned indignantly the moment she heard their entrance.

"Why is there a two-way mirror in here?" she demanded in naïve outrage.

Shikamaru looked at Kakashi as if to say, '_she's all yours'_, and quickly slipped out of the room again, bolting the door behind him.

"Sakura, come away from the mirror," Kakashi beckoned, before tacking on an insincere, "darling."

Sakura regarded him warily, as if she didn't entirely trust his motives for this arrangement. It made him want to sigh again as he moved toward the make-shift bunk in the corner of the room and began stripping off the blankets. "Don't look at me like that," he told her as he measured the thickest woolen blanket against his arm. "It's the only thing I could think of."

"I don't know," she said suspiciously. "This is just the kind of pervy thing your mind would leap to."

"My pervy mind is what is going to get us out of here, so just play along for now," Kakashi said, dragging the blanket over to the mirror and reaching up to hook it over a couple of loose electricity cables above it. As he did this, the light in the room dipped and flickered. Sakura gazed up at the lonely bulb above her with consternation.

"Does this mean you have a plan?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Is it a good one?"

"No."

"Will it even work?"

"In theory. But probably not." He stood back and looked at his handiwork. "There we go. Nice and private now."

"That's great," Sakura said, looking at the blanket now covering the two-way mirror. "But I saw how suspicious the overseers were. I only give us about an hour before someone realizes we're not supposed to be in here together and comes to separate us."

"That's alright," Kakashi said dismissively. "We won't even need five minutes."

Sakura smothered a giggle with her hand. Kakashi glanced at her. "What?"

"Some wives might find that kind of disappointing," she sniggered.

"And you said _I _was kind of pervy?" Kakashi said innocently, handing her one of the bed sheets. "Here. Tear this into five even strips."

"Why?" Sakura asked.

"Because I said so," he replied as he started tearing up his own sheet.

"This seems like vandalism…" Sakura said hesitantly.

"Gosh, really? We might have to stage a break out to distract them from this horrible act of wanton destruction," Kakashi said with deceptive lightness.

"Alright, point taken," Sakura grumbled and began ripping the sheet into strips as even as she could manage. It was only now that she could no longer access her chakra that she realized how much she had come to depend on it for a little helping hand every now and then. Pickle jars, heavy laundry baskets, fallen comrades – all a doddle when you could turn bursts of super-strength on and off like a light switch. But suddenly she found herself tearing a cotton sheet that had snagged halfway through, and it was only when Kakashi caught the other end that she managed to free the strip. It was humiliating. She felt like such a _girl_.

"I look forward to getting these cuffs off," she said, rubbing her sore wrists. "I've never felt so weak and helpless."

"It didn't stop you from putting that woman in the infirmary," Kakashi pointed out.

"That was nothing. I just used her own weight against her like you taught us, but even then she still managed to get me pretty good." She fingered the papery stitches holding the split skin of her forehead together. It felt like it was weeping again. "Ow…"

Kakashi paused in his work. "Let me see," he said softly, and Sakura obliged him as he stepped forward to examine the wound. "It looks worse than it did the last I saw you. Did they even clean it?"

Why were his hands always so warm? And why did it always feel so nice when he touched her, even when it was just to hold her chin up and trace his thumb around the edge of her blackening eye? Her pulse fluttered anxiously when he leaned in for a closer look. Firm but gentle. _That _was the way to describe his hands. But firm and gentle was Kakashi all over.

"That's another thing," she went on, trying to distract them both. "The nurses in this place are terrible. They can't even heal a bruise, and I swear I saw a jar of leeches in one of the cupboards…"

"They're prison nurses," Kakashi said. "They're not paid well enough to take that much pride in their work."

"It looks worse than it is, Kakashi," she reassured him. "All head wounds are like that, but I'll heal it in a split second the moment these cuffs come off. Does your plan involve anything like that?"

"We could steal a key off one of the key-holding guards, I suppose," he ruminated. "But you need an accompanying jutsu to unlock the seal, and for that you need chakra, which is something we lack. And to be honest, we need to stay out of the guards way for this to stand even a remote chance of being pulled off."

Sakura sighed. "This isn't going to be easy, is it?"

"No. Only about three people have ever escaped from this particular prison."

"And we stand a chance because…?"

"I know the layout of this place better than most of the prisoners combined. That alone gives us a good edge, but that's not our only advantage."

"Yeah?"

Kakashi helped her tear the last of the sheet in twain and said with rather a lot of self-assuredness for someone looking so tired and dirty and imprisoned, "I am Hatake Kakashi, and you are Haruno Sakura. With my brains and your monstrous personality, we're as good as unstoppable."

Sakura wasn't reassured. She looked anxiously down at the strips of rough fabric in her hands. "Now what?"

"Tie them around your waist," he said, doing just that with his own strips of cloth.

"How does that help anything?" she demanded.

"I really don't have time to explain, so just humor me."

With a put-upon scowl, Sakura wrapped the strips twice around her waist and tied them in a bow behind her back. She looked down at herself and waited for it to become apparent how any of this was useful to anyone.

"See?" Kakashi said.

"Oh, yes," Sakura said flatly. "We'll surely _skip_ to freedom now! You're a genius."

"I detect sarcasm, but you'll understand soon enough." Kakashi looked around the room. "Now we just need a…"

He didn't complete the thought though, as he began wandering back and forth, examining what little lay within the room. Besides the bed and the drainage pit in the corner of the room, the only other object in the room was a metal table. But this was bolted to the ground when Kakashi went over to give it a kick, and completely immovable. So instead he went back to the bed and lay on his back as he began rifling around underneath it.

"What are you doing _now_?" Sakura asked, not liking that Kakashi seemed determined not to explain anything to her. "You could at least give me a-"

She broke off when a loud snap echoed around the room and half the bed began to sag. Kakashi wriggled out, holding up a rusted metal tube. "Got it," he said cheerfully enough. "This'll do nicely."

Sakura gasped in exasperation. "For what?"

"You'll see," he said and moved towards the door, giving it a loud rap with his knuckles.

Footsteps approached on the other side. "What?" Shikamaru could be heard asking.

"We're out of lube," Kakashi called.

"I better come in and give you a refill, I suppose?"

"Thank you," Kakashi said graciously, taking up position behind the door with the metal bar raised above his shoulder.

Too late, Sakura twigged what he was planning and glared at him. "Don't you dare!" she hissed. But the key was already turning in the lock and the bolts were sliding back. Sakura covered her eyes, unable to watch, yet still managed to peek through her fingers to see the whole thing. Shikamaru, with a resigned sort of expression, stepped inside and closed his eyes. A moment later, Kakashi swung the bar and knocked him unceremoniously to the floor.

"Oh, yeah," Shikamaru said weakly from the floor, crusty with sarcasm. "Didn't see that coming at all."

Kakashi calmly nudged his legs aside with his foot and shut the door again. "Sorry," he said apologetically to the fallen younger man. "But we can't let them think that you gave in too easily."

"By all means, beat me around the head some more, if you like," Shikamaru offered. "It's clearly for my own good."

"That won't be necessary," Sakura interjected before Kakashi could take him up on it. She crouched down to examine the white mark on Shikamaru's cheek. There was a deep gouge where the sharp, rusted edge of the bar had struck him, but his skin seemed to be in too much shock to bleed yet. But he would bleed, and he would bleed a lot, and there would be a terrible scar if this wasn't looked at by a proper medic. "Looks severe enough to me," she said, glaring at Kakashi. "But Shika, you have to promise me to go to the hospital. Don't go to those barmy dark age nurses down the corridor. They'll probably just tie a toad to your chin."

"Where do you want us to stash you?" Kakashi asked him considerately.

"The bed would be nice."

Sakura took him by the feet and Kakashi took him under the shoulders, and together they managed to drag him across the room to lever him up onto the moth-eaten foam mattress. He didn't look completely happy with the arrangement, and the gash on his cheek was finally beginning to fill with blood. "You took the sheets?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," Kakashi said, lifting Shikamaru's hand to start unclipping something on his wrist. "And now we're taking your watch. Sakura, get his kunai."

Sakura obeyed blithely, freeing the sharp tool from the pouch on his leg and feeling only incrementally less helpless with it in her hand.

"Good," muttered Kakashi, looking at his new watch. "We have ten minutes till the guards switch shifts."

"How is that good?" Sakura asked.

"Everyone's tired, bored and paying more attention to the time than the job," Kakashi said, confiscating the kunai from her. "But it also means the guards will be moving around a lot more than usual, so we'll have to work fast. Shikamaru, just stay here and look unconscious."

"No problem, but I'm also supposed to be relieved in ten minutes. So you'll have about fifteen minutes before someone raises the alarm," said Shikamaru. "Maybe twenty. They're kinda lazy around here."

"No, that's just you," Sakura reminded him.

"Oh, yes."

Sakura glanced as Kakashi to see him attacking the foam mattress with the kunai. "_Now_ what are you doing?" she hissed.

He came away with four roughly rectangular lumps of foam the size of bricks, and handed two to Sakura. "Slip these into your belt," he said, as he did just that.

Sakura complied, but was no more enlightened than she was before. "Floatation devices?" she guessed.

Kakashi shook his head. "I'd explain but we have to get moving if we're going to beat the guards' switchover. Come on." He was moving towards the door.

Sakura looked back hesitantly at Shikamaru. "Sorry," she said to him guiltily. "But thank you."

His cheek oozed. "Don't mention it," he muttered, letting his head drop against the flea-bitten pillow – either faking unconsciousness or truly unconscious, it was hard to tell.

"Sakura," Kakashi said more sharply, "Come on."

Outside, the corridor stretched in two short directions, with the left leading to a T-junction and the right bending into darkness. There were no guards to see, but Sakura knew there were a few stationed just out of sight around the corners. There was no way they could go that didn't mean running into a barred gate and its accompanying guard.

"This way," Kakashi said, taking Sakura's hand and moving towards the darker end of the corridor where the lights were mostly broken.

"There's a guard down there," Sakura whispered warningly. That was the way Shikamaru had brought her after all.

"I know," he whispered back, stopping short of the corner. "We're not going down there, we're going up through here."

He pointed to the ceiling and Sakura followed his finger doubtfully. Just above them was a square hole in the roof of the tunnel, covered by a thick grill with four enormous bolts holding it in place. Sakura stared at it and wondered exactly how Kakashi thought they were getting through there.

"I want you get on my shoulders and undo the bolts with this," Kakashi said quietly, handing her the kunai. "Make as little noise as possible."

"We need a flat-head screwdriver," she pointed out. "Not a kunai."

"You'll have to use the edge," Kakashi told her. "Unfortunately I forgot to steal the flat-head screwdriver that Shikamaru always carries around with him."

Point taken. "What's up there?" she asked.

"Later," he said. "We need to get moving."

He crouched down and Sakura obligingly climbed onto his shoulders. She didn't even for a moment feel precarious or unsafe as he rose, he was so disciplined and strong. He only had to hold her knees lightly and Sakura's only worry became the stiff, rusted bolts of the grill above her.

Each of the four bolts appeared to be screwed directly into the rock, which thankfully muffled the sound of metal as she began to laboriously rotate them loose. It was certainly not easy. The kunai hadn't been designed for this; it's blade was too fine and slim to properly fit the grooves on the head of each bolt, forcing her to keep one hand on the looped hand and the other on the tip of weapon, helping to keep it straight as she turned it.

More than once she nicked herself, but Sakura didn't dare utter even a gasp of pain, even when the blood was beginning to accumulate into a thin stream that ran down to her elbow and dripped off onto her thigh. Since Kakashi's head was positioned quite nicely between her thighs, he noticed straight away.

"You ok?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, her hand slipping once more and narrowly missed gouging herself again. "It's just not easy."

"You're doing great," Kakashi assured her. "By the way, how's this no-underwear business suiting you? I find it quite liberating."

Sakura slapped the top of his head as hard as she dared and resumed her work with a red face.

The first and second bolt came loose, if a little too slowly, but it was the third one that gave Sakura the most trouble. No matter how she pressed with the kunai, it refused to turn. Sakura heaved until sweat began to sting her face.

It was no use. "It won't turn," she whispered. "It's too rusty."

"Doesn't matter. You only need to undo three. Try the last one."

Her cut fingers were beginning to throb painfully as she got to work on the fourth bolt, scraping away as much rust as she could before attempting to unscrew it. It gave her heart to see that the grill was already wobbling slightly.

"Mayaki-san! How are you!"

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin. A loud voice had echoed through the corridor, emanating from one of the passages just out of sight. A second voice cheerfully answered, sounding far too close for comfort.

"Guards are changing," Kakashi whispered warningly. "Hurry up. They'll be coming this way in a second."

A _second_? Sakura drew in a shaky breath and twisted as hard and fast as she could. The bolt was coming loose, but her hand _would_ keep slipping!

Kakashi's grip was getting incrementally tighter on her knees, transferring some of the nervousness that he was always good at keeping out of his voice and face. Sakura knew she had to remain calm in order to keep twisting at an efficient speed.

_There!_

The bolt came loose sooner than she expected, so rusted that it broke in half and slipped through her fingers to clatter noisily on the floor.

Neither of them dared even breathe.

"What was that?"

"Did you hear that?"

The two guards suddenly fell quiet, and a moment later, footsteps could be heard. Kakashi tapped her thigh twice, warning her to _go_. Sakura didn't need to be told – she reached up and spun the square grill out of the way, its last bolt acting as its pivot. Kakashi boosted her up and she disappeared into the hole with the silence and stealth of a ferret – one that promptly brained itself on the low roof of the new passage.

Kakashi was close behind, jumping to catch the inside edge and drag himself up with slightly less finesse and ease than Sakura, thanks to his larger frame. The moment his feet were through, Sakura reached down and dragged the grill back into place, and both of them hung in silence, waiting for the inevitable shout that would let them know they'd been seen.

It was horribly dark in this new narrow tunnel that was barely big enough to fit a crawling man. The only light came from the grill, and Sakura looked up to see the slatted lines landing across Kakashi's face, showing her that he looked just as tense and grim as she felt.

Movement below caught her attention again and she looked down over the tops of two heads. They were looking around, peering around the corners and then shrugging at each other.

"So did you hear that the new Rounders Captain used to coach the Cloud team?"

"Do you think he'll be any good?"

"Nothing short of a miracle could make the Konoha team win a game, so probably not."

Kakashi tapped her hand and gestured for her to follow him. It seemed that the two men below were stopping for quite a lengthy chat, and neither Kakashi nor Sakura felt compelled to stay and listen now that it was clear they hadn't been detected.

They carefully and quietly crawled away down the dark tunnel until near pitch-blackness engulfed them. Only when the voices of the guards faded to an indistinct murmur behind them did they stop and take stock of the situation.

"How are your hands?" Kakashi asked.

"Fine," Sakura said impatiently. "But that was a close one."

"I agree, but we're on schedule so far." She could hardly see him, but she heard him sigh and flop onto his back. "Now comes the hard bit."

"Which is?"

"Trying to remember the way around these damn vents in the dark."

Sakura looked around. Far off behind them was the little square of light shining on the low roof of the passage where they had come through, and ahead of them was nothing but darkness. "What are these tunnels?" she asked. "Purpose built escape routes?"

He chuckled. "The prison is so far underground that its effectively sealed off from the surface. Air has to get down here somehow. And occasionally they're used for delivering sleeping gas to the whole prison when there are particularly bad riots."

"Do these lead to the surface?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes."

"Great!"

"Not really. There are traps all over the vents to stop prisoners doing exactly what we're doing, and all the vents leading to the surface are far too narrow for even you to ferret your way up."

"Oh," Sakura murmured, disheartened. "So what's the plan of action?"

"We just need to relocate to another part of the prison, and we'll go from there. But remember, if we set off one of the traps, we will likely get blown to bits. And if we still somehow manage to survive that, we'll be swarmed with guards within seconds."

Sakura sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing."

He nodded in sympathy. "So do I."

* * *

It was slow progress through the dark. Kakashi wanted to cover as much ground as possible before someone discovered they were missing, but he could not afford to rush this. It had been a long time since he'd seen the schematics for these vents, and even longer since he'd helped track down one of the prisoners who had attempted to escape this way. Occasionally they passed over another grate and sometimes he could orientate himself if he recognized the corridor or the room below, but generally most of the corridors and the rooms looked the same, and these vents were laid out in systematical symmetry that made it difficult for him to remember which path contained a trap and which was safe.

He got lost several times, but he never bothered to inform Sakura. It would only worry her. The first time he knew it had happened was when he looked down through one of the periodic grills and realized he was looking into the employee lounge where several guards were lounging about drinking coffee and snoozing. Discreetly, he pretended he had _meant_ to come this way, and quietly adjusted his route. They hadn't come across any explosion tags yet, so they were making remarkably good progress anyway.

Eventually he noticed that the vent they were crawling through was beginning to slant upwards until they were shuffling up a very steep incline indeed.

"It's not far now," he whispered to Sakura through the pitch darkness. "But this is the hard bit… I want you to go first."

"I'm not your canary," she retorted.

"The tunnel is going to get very steep," he warned. "The rock is extremely slippery and it won't surprise me if we fall. So if that happens, wouldn't you rather be the one on top?"

Sakura thought. "I suppose…"

"Sorry, you'll have to wriggle past…"

He pressed himself to the side of the tunnel, but that still didn't leave much room. If either of them had been any bigger, it would have been impossible. Sakura tentatively turned her body sideways like him and dragged herself an inch at a time past him, obviously trying to avoid as much bodily contact as possible. It didn't entirely work. Her soft breasts squashed against his belly, his chest, and – god help him – his face. The drag of her body against his was so deliciously that he may have accidentally on purpose leant into her a bit to make her progress even more difficult, and yes, he was going to hell, but he already knew that, so what did it hurt?

Even through the darkness he knew she was blushing, and as soon as Sakura could, she scrambled out from beside him and shot off up the tunnel like a fox. Kakashi had half a mind to grab her by the ankles, put the escape plan on hold, and enjoy a nice break from all the work. But the speed at which Sakura was moving away from him gave the impression that she wouldn't like that. She would kiss him perhaps, like she did between the bars, or like the did the night before in their cell, but that was about as far as she was willing to go.

He sighed and clambered after her, realizing he had to maintain a modicum of restraint around this girl. Which would be difficult, considering that they would be indefinitely stuck with each other should this caper turn out a success.

Sakura couldn't keep up the speed for long when the tunnel took a sudden vertical turn. The vents had not been cut with care, and there were a lot of jagged dips and protrusions that made for decent handholds, but the rock was as slippery and slimy as ever, and once or twice there was a gasp as one of their hands of feet lost its grip. They took it virtually an inch at a time, blindly running their hands over the rocky sides in search of any potential grip, with Sakura muttering warnings down to Kakashi to watch out for a particularly slimy bit.

At one point Sakura lost both handholds and began to fall – stopped only by her foot landing on Kakashi's head. It was touch and go whether or not Kakashi would lose his grip in the same jolt too, but somehow he managed to cling on, and the journey resumed – Sakura taking even more care over selecting her grips than before.

"How long do we have to keep climbing?" she whispered down to him.

"We're nearly there," he lied. "Keep going."

"This would be so much easier with chakra," she moaned.

Even Kakashi's arms were beginning to shake with fatigue before long and he had to stop a few times to try and gather his energy, or allow for Sakura to gather hers. There was a faint breeze running through this tunnel, and it chilled the both of them. As Sakura commented, it was bad enough climbing a slippery vertical shaft with no chakra without being blown numb by a cold gush of air too. Her hand was giving her trouble, Kakashi realized, though she was determined not to let him know, despite how obvious her little hisses of pain were.

It was a relief to hear Sakura's soft cry of relief when the tunnel leveled out again. She disappeared into a side tunnel off the vertical shaft and immediately collapsed onto her back, panting and laughing. Kakashi crawled up and flopped beside her, listening to the breathless noises she made in his ear.

"Let's not do that again," she gasped.

"If you say so."

Sakura laughed again and, probably without realizing, reached an arm around his neck to pull him into a kiss. She had to be high from the adrenalin to instigate so easily, but Kakashi didn't care. He was a little giddy himself from the nerve-wracking climb where even the slightest slip could lead to the biggest plummet in his life. Sakura's sweet lips played with his and all to easily he got carried away on a tide, forgetting where they were and who they were in order to enjoy kissing the soft, eager woman beneath him. He was unable to stop himself from touching her – her messy hair, he clothed shoulders, her bare arms with skin the texture of silk. He couldn't quite get at her breasts, pressed as they were against his chest in this tight space, so he settled for indulging in his favorite body-parts, smoothing his hands across her hips and thighs.

He wished he could see her. But perhaps it was the darkness that made this seem so unreal and dreamlike. Sakura's sighs seemed to echo all around him, and she was so responsive when he kissed her throat _just_ there. Her knee lifted to wrap her leg around his and he gave into the temptation to sink his hand into her prison-issue pants and give her a bottom a good sound grope. She wasn't wearing any underwear like himself. There wasn't much stopping him from…

"Uh…"

That was Sakura. She'd noticed the third presence in this tunnel, pressing insistently against her thigh. Kakashi forced himself to stop and pressed his forehead to the cold rock over Sakura's shoulder. "Sorry," he muttered.

"No, I was just surprised…" she whispered. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Sorry," he felt compelled to say again. He attempted to move off her, but Sakura's fingers twisted into his shirt, preventing him.

"I didn't say stop," she said.

"But-"

"I don't mind… if you want to, you know…"

Alarm bells rung in the back of Kakashi's head all over again. "I don't think that's wise…" he whispered to her.

"Oh, please," she tugged at his shirt. "It won't take a minute and I think we really need to get this off our chests…"

Well that sorted it. "Definitely not," Kakashi said, promptly crawling off her and away down the tunnel to gain some respectable distance. "If we ever do that, we're going to do it long and slow on a nice soft bed, and then possibly fast and hard a few times against a wall, but definitely not short and disappointing in the middle of a prison break."

Sakura picked herself up behind him. "Ok," she said, contriving to sound a little disappointed. But now they both felt vaguely rejuvenated, as their imperative to get out of here had just increased tenfold. Already Kakashi was thinking of cozy cottages in the middle of the country and soft mattresses of goose feathers where he was obliged to make love to his pretend wife every night.

But why were alarm bells still ringing in his ears?

He stopped and listened. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Sakura stopped to listen too. Her hearing may not have been as sharp as his, but even she could detect the distant trill of a bell. "Is that-"

"I think we've been discovered," he said in a low voice. "They could be trailing us, and they'll be able to move much faster, so we need to move it. Follow me."

He set off down the tunnel as fast as a man on his knees could. Occasionally he thought he heard the echo of distant voices and thumps somewhere else in this network of ventilation tunnels, but he did his best to ignore them. They weren't far off from there goal now.

They passed a grille looking down on a storage room, and Kakashi knew they were on the right track. Just one more turn…

Another grille and another square of light shone up from the floor of the tunnel. Kakashi peered down and sighed with relief. "We're here," he told Sakura, "and thank god no one's around."

The bolts of the grille were inaccessible from this side, and Kakashi was forced to resort to drawing up his leg and slamming his foot down against the slatted grate. It shook and clattered. He waited and listened for any sign that the noise had alerted someone unseen below, and when there was nothing, he felt confident to try again.

It took fifteen blows for the grille to even budge. Sakura winced at the horribly loud screech of metal against rock as Kakashi grabbed the grille and wrested the bolts out of their sockets. Crumbs of stone could be heard cascading on numerous objects below, and a few moments after that, the grille came loose and landed with a series of clangs and clatters.

In the ringing silence that followed – punctuated only by the distant alarm – Sakura whispered, "A little louder and you might have woken the dead."

"Just one more hurdle now," Kakashi said, before dropping down out of sight into the room below. Sakura scooted forward to peer after him and was surprised at the number of pipes threaded across the room below, completely obscuring the floor entirely. She dropped down onto a wide green one beside Kakashi and looked around.

"A boiler room?" she asked.

"Sort of," he whispered back, and then he was off, slipping away along the pipe like a cat with one careful foot in front of the other and two hands slightly out for balance. Sakura quickly hurried after him, noting that these pipes seemed to be running over several rooms, with some pipes branching off to disappear into walls and ceilings while others appearing to crisscross over their path. It was getting warmer up here too, she noted.

"Don't step on that pipe," Kakashi warned her, as she was about to hop across to an adjacent gray pipe. "It's hot."

"But this one's making too much noise," she whispered, wincing is the pipe they were treading on began to groan and creak under their combined weight.

"The engineer's have gone home for the night," he said. "There's no one to hear, Sakura."

They passed over several rooms and work areas until finally Kakashi dropped into the last room where the last of the pipes conglomerated. The first thing Sakura should have noticed was the rather large brick oven taking up half of the room which several of the pipes fed into, but she was too busy staring at the abundance of long cardboard boxes.

"So we're going to mail ourselves out of here?" she guessed vaguely. "These boxes are roughly body-sized."

Kakashi just looked at her. "I wouldn't recommend crawling into one of those."

"Why not?"

"Someone might mistake you for a cadaver and throw you in here," he said, as he pulled open the enormous metal door of the oven.

A mild wave of heat washed over Sakura even from where she stood, and she peered into the tomb-like chamber within the oven. "Ah," she said flatly. "So this is the crematorium?"

"It must have been used this morning," Kakashi said grimly, holding a hand to gauge the temperature inside. "I was afraid of this, but at least it's not as bad as it was during the war. The enemy nin were kept down here and they were dropping dead every day, killing themselves or being tortured to death. This thing used to be on all the time."

"Only with Hatake Kakashi could you a history tour along with your prison break," Sakura said drolly. "I assume there's a point to us admiring a furnace?"

"This is our way out."

"Pardon?"

Kakashi began untying the ripped sheets from around his waist in order to wind them around his hands. "In the back of the furnace there's a chimney flue that leads to the surface, and hopefully-"

"Kakashi, you're a genius!" Sakura cried and wrapped her arms tightly around him while he struggled to wrap one of the cloth strips over his nose and mouth. "You know that, don't you?"

"Yes," he said, sounding slightly pleased. "I figured it was probably used recently, so hopefully these sheets will make do as temporary oven-mitts. The floor in there is hot enough to blister your soles right off. Have you still got the foam squares?"

"Yes," she held them up.

"Good. Tie them to your feet, wrap up your hands and tie the last strip over your mouth. It's very dirty and smoky in there, so you'll need it to breathe."

Well, _now_ it made sense. Sakura hastened to obey, but felt faintly exasperated that Kakashi only ever bothered to explain his schemes _half _the time. She looked up at him to tell him so but closed her mouth when she noticed half his face was covered, like hers, with the torn cloth. It had been a week since she'd last seen him wear a mask, and in that week she had probably gotten to know Kakashi better than she had after five years of tutelage. She was used to looking at his open face and reading the hidden expressions. Covered, she almost felt like the least seven days had evaporated and she was looking back at the man he'd been before; that taciturn, indifferent, infuriatingly cold man who kept a good many emotional miles from everyone around him.

For a moment Sakura was rendered unable to speak to him. She'd suddenly forgotten how. This was Kakashi-sensei. Not Kakashi.

"What's the matter?" he asked, noticing her dismayed gaze.

She shook her head. "Nothing. I just-"

Sakura broke off immediately, because they both heard it. A soft warbling creak of feet treading on a weakened pipe. Kakashi's hand landed on her shoulder and silently urged her towards the furnace. There was nothing for it. No time to hesitate. She crawled in, immediately scalded her knees, and shuffled forward on foamy pads that were already bleeding heat.

It was like walking into a sauna. The heat was incredible. It made her gasp and pant straight away and sweat sprang from every inch of her skin and prickled her scalp. And it got ten times worse when Kakashi closed the door quietly after them.

"The flue," he hissed. "_Now."_

Sakura wasn't even sure how she made it to the back of the tiny chamber without flopping over and letting herself start cooking. The chimney was there – funneled through a narrow gap in the bricks of the ceiling. Sakura was only just slim enough to fit through herself, and she scraped off most of her elbows in the process. Kakashi wouldn't fit, but he didn't seem all that opposed to tearing a few of the heat-weakened bricks out to widen the gap, and then they were both crawling up the ragged, dirty shaft to only god knew where. There was soot in Sakura's eyes. Corpse soot. She couldn't see. Her clothes became plastered to her body and her fingers slipped on the grimy bricks.

If she'd thought the vertical ventilation shaft was bad, this was at least a hundred times worse. Every second Sakura thought she was going to slip and fall and drag Kakashi down with her, and then they would fry on the hot floor of the furnace before either of them had the chance to gather their energy again.

But there was moonlight! And the faintest, tiniest, most blissful whiff of cool air on her face.

"Kakashi!" she exclaimed excitedly as she surged up the last few feet, literally tasting freedom on her tongue –

Her head crashed into an unseen barrier. Stars flickered before her eyes and she would have fallen if Kakashi hadn't pushed her back up with his hand on her ass. If she hadn't been seeing stars she would have kicked him in the nose for that.

"What's wrong?" he panted. He couldn't see around her.

Sakura rubbed her head slowly, trying to focus her gaze above her. There was the night sky, and all the _real _twinkling stars with the moon just peeking out from behind the black silhouette of a tree. But after a moment her gaze adjusted and refocused on the obstacle a few inches in front of her nose.

Bars. Six of them.

"It's blocked," she said weakly, reaching up to grasp the bars and give them a firm shake. There wasn't even the faintest of rattles.

"What do you mean its blocked?" Kakashi sounded surprised, and that was not good. This hadn't been a factor in his plan, and now they were stuck. Unable to go forward, unable to turn back. They couldn't tolerate the heat down there twice without fainting, and it wasn't exactly cool at the top of the chimney either. The hot air was being dragged up around them like a vacuum, and hardly any of the crystal cool air outside could reach them, despite being only inches away.

"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked, with increasing panic. "They've put bars across the opening."

"Are there any exploding tags?" Kakashi asked. "Traps?"

Sakura looked around, but it was hard to tell. It was so dark, and the heat was making her so dizzy and thirsty. "I don't think so."

"Damn… we might have been able to use one to blow open a hole, but…" She heard him shifting his grip on the bricks below her. "Sakura, you'll have to break them yourself."

"I can't," she said, nearly laughing.

"You'll have to."

"I can't!" she cried again, in case he hadn't understood the first time.

"And you will _have to_," he replied, equally hard. "Those cuffs are made to incapacitate even S-class types, but there have always been exceptions that not even these cuffs could hope to contain. Sakura, if anyone can break through chakra seals, it would be you. You have the best chakra control in the village, you know that. Do you remember the time I taught you to walk up a tree? You did it first time. I've never known of anyone who could do that."

"That doesn't matter!" Sakura protested. "Two of the vital chakra points in my wrists are sealed and you _can't_ control chakra when its blocked, no matter how good you are!"

She almost heard Kakashi growl. "It's not like we have much to lose! Bypass the blocks. And for heaven's sake hurry, I think I'm on fire."

She hoped he was joking, but he was right anyway. It wasn't like they had much to lose by trying. Sakura clung to the bars above her with her left hand and clutched its cuff with her right. It was the right wrist that she needed to concentrate on. The seal was working there, and she could feel it stemming the flow of chakra around her body like a dam stopped a river in its tracks. It was an old jutsu, honed and perfectly unsurpassable.

But it was untrue that the chakra was frozen in place. A dam could stop a river, but waves would still lap at its side, and the water was never still behind it – slowed and stripped of its force and power, but it still swirled and eddied. Waiting. And if all the water in that reservoir surged forward at the same time with the same force, not even the dam could hold it back.

"I think I can do it," she said quietly, feeling inside her for those stagnant channels of chakra that were almost impossible to detect right now. She could push and pull at them… just a little… and slowly gain momentum.

It was difficult to concentrate, when hot air was threatening to fry your brain and you had so many cuts, bruises, and burns that your whole body just felt like one big _ache_. Sakura focused inwards, ignoring the fact that she could barely breathe or feel her fingers. Her arms tingled with shifting chakra. But it was gaining momentum. Each tiny shove was harder than the last and already she could feel the pain in her wrist at the sealed chakra points squeezed and buckled.

She alarmed Kakashi quite a lot when the chakra broke through and she gave a soft shout of pain and triumph. Her fingers tightened on the left cuff and the metal twisted and crunched beneath them, breaking apart.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi called up in concern.

"I did it!" she cried, panting with exertion and more exhausted than ever. The chakra block that she'd overcome only seconds ago was back up and stifling as ever, but her left hand was now free. She summoned her chakra and tore the second cuff away, and with hands that felt lighter than ever, she heaved and pushed at the bars until they snapped and bent.

They were free.

Fresh air had never smelt so sweet, and Sakura had never appreciated it before, but wasn't the view of a horizon unbroken by bars the most beautiful sight in the world? Once out on the grass she turned to help pull Kakashi up after her, before carefully breaking his cuffs too.

He looked amazed at his own bare wrists, although they looked as raw and scraped as hers. "I can't believe you actually did that," he said, bewildered.

"You said I could," she said, tugging down her sooty mask to grin at him. "You were right!"

He pulled down his own mask to smile back, and she nearly laughed at the black band of soot across his eyes on an otherwise clean face. "You look like a raccoon," he told her, reaching up to smudge his thumb across her cheek.

"I was about to say the same to you." She preferred him far more without anything covering his face. As odd and superficial as it sounded, he was _her_ Kakashi when she could see him smiling at her like he was now. And for a moment too long she smiled stupidly back, and that was when they both realized that whatever else had happened to them this week, they'd both fallen quite hard.

She wished he would kiss her again, and for a second she thought he might until he forcibly lowered his hand from her face and took her wrist instead. "We need to move fast now," he said. "Most escapees get caught within the first twenty-four hours, so we have to be quick and smart."

"We should get some supplies first," Sakura said, looking up the slope, on the other side of which lay the Hokage monument and the entire village below it. "Food, water, clothes, hair tongs-"

"We can't risk it. They'll have staked out our homes if they know we're gone."

"Kakashi, look at us," she said pointedly. "Have you ever seen two such suspicious looking people? We look like… like…"

"Escaped convicts?"

"Odd that, don't you think?"

"You'll have to trust me, Sakura," he said, moving his grip on her wrist to hold her hand. "The safest thing right now is to just run. Personal hygiene will have to wait."

"Yes, but…"

"But?"

Sakura didn't know what else to say. She didn't really feel that strongly about looking suspicious. She just felt that if they were going to run away from Konoha, they could at least take some things with them so it didn't feel like they were leaving it behind so completely. Just some clothes maybe. Or a picture?

"Can't we at least say goodbye to our friends?"

"You'll see them again. Probably sooner than you think," he cajoled. "But right now, we _have_ to go."

"Alright."

And once they got going, Sakura had to admit that it felt good to run. After a week being caged up, frog marched, and being subjecting to cramped little vents, running felt liberating. And every stride was another stride away from that ghastly prison and the people who had put them there. Sakura laughed a little as she realized it was turning into a race. It cheered her up. How often did she get to mess around in the woods in the middle of the night with a her stuffy team leader? After a while she even stopped expecting to hear the sound of rushing hunter-nin closing in on them.

Where they were going was open to interpretation. Their first agenda was simply to put distance between themselves and Konoha. But what then?

It was safe to say that the idyllic little country farmhouse with the stinky chickens and noisy goats was pure fantasy. There were too many important things at stake right now to just bunk off to a quiet corner of the world, even if they could tolerate the kind of boredom and menial work that would entail. And most importantly they had nothing. No money, no clothes, and as far as they were concerned, no identity. They would be on Konoha's most wanted list by tomorrow. Bulletins would be sent out to all towns and villages, and some god-awful pictures of theirs would probably be pasted onto every lamp post in the Fire country.

Perhaps that was exaggeration, but pretty soon they'd have to stay away from people or get some bloody good disguises, because a pink-haired girl and a white-haired, scarred man were very identifiable people.

They ran until neither of them had the energy to run anymore, and then they both came to a panting halt beside an uprooted tree. Kakashi leaned against the bark with his hands on his knees while Sakura sat down in the grass and moss beneath, resting her forehead against her knees as she tried to catch her breath. A myriad of problems irritated her. She was desperately hungry, more than a little too cold, and the grimy soot all over her skin and hair was itching to buggery. But she didn't dare complain because Kakashi was undoubtedly feeling exactly the same and bearing with it patiently.

"We can't keep this up," Sakura wheezed. "We don't even have anywhere to go."

An own hooted somewhere overhead and Kakashi cast an eye around the dark forest and the woodland path that glimmered in the moonlight below them. "The safest thing right now," he said, "is to probably head to Suna and apply for asylum. While they decide whether or not to send us back, we'll at least have time to get ourselves sorted out of the reach of hunter-nin. We can go from there."

"Oh god." Sakura thumped her head against her knees. "Suna's a long way away."

"Better than sitting around in the fire country just waiting to be caught. Konoha hunter nin are infamously persistent and ruthless. I know, because I helped train half of them."

"And what happens then?" she asked. "After Suna?"

"Providing there are no cosy little farms for sale at a reasonable price…?" Kakashi sighed. "We'll deal with that when we get to it. You can't plan too far ahead in situations like this. Our goal for now is to get to Suna. Everything else will have to wait."

"I've never been a fugitive before," Sakura whispered. "TV makes it look a bit more glamorous. They never mentioned having to run around in cold, damp woods with no underwear on and dead people in you hair."

"I'm sure there's a river around here somewhere that you could wash in…" Kakashi began.

Freezing cold water in the middle of the night with no towels or change of clothes? "No thanks," Sakura uttered contritely. "I thought breaking out of prison meant your situation impoved."

"Thinking of breaking back into prison?"

"Right now? Yes."

"You'll just have to be patient. When we next come across a town, we can get washed and find new clothes. How are your pick-pocketing skills?"

"Non-existent."

"Well, you're a criminal on the run now, so you're obliged to develop some."

Sakura stared glumly into the darkness. "What were we thinking? This'll never work…"

After a long moment with nothing but the rattle of leaves to fill the silence, Kakashi sighed and eased himself down beside her. His arm came around her, forcing her to lean into him, and Sakura couldn't deny she was thankful for the warmth, as well as just the contact with another human to let her know she wasn't as alone as she felt. "I'll look after you," he said, probably thinking that was a heroic, cool thing to say.

"Shut up," she said, embarrassed. "You know perfectly well I'll be the one looking after you." And to prove it she reached out a hand to his skinned elbow and began healing him.

"Don't waste your energy on me, Sakura," he chided, drawing her hand away.

"What should I waste it on then?" she asked.

"Well, if you're that concerned about neglecting me, you could just kiss me."

"I could," she hedged, startled. "But I don't think I smell very nice right now…"

"Neither do I."

"I might get confused and try to eat you. I'm _that_ hungry."

"I'm open to all kinks and depravities."

"But the hunter-nin…"

"Won't find us any faster than they would anyway."

Sakura felt that was a bit dismissive of a real danger, but nevertheless she tipped her chin up and leaned towards him to press her mouth to his. She thought it would be quick and chaste, more of an amusement than something to really satisfy any of the compulsive attraction she felt tugging between them. Before she could retreat, however, Kakashi caught her cheek and commandeered the kiss, taking it from soft and chaste to deep and intimate in a single heartbeat.

His tongue tapped at hers invitingly, and rather quickly Sakura found herself swept up in a rush of sudden awareness and arousal that had her trying to press into him more fully. Kakashi didn't seem to mind. His hand had left her cheek to trace her curves, stopping the squeeze her ass and encourage even more proximity. It didn't feel quite so cold anymore, and Konoha already seemed so very far away. Sakura allowed herself a small moan as a delicious shiver ran the length of her body, intensified everywhere her body made contact with his.

He finally broke his mouth from hers to press kisses to her throat, and that's when Sakura had to give up any pretence that it was 'just a kiss'. If they weren't careful, they would forget their vow to only disgrace themselves on a nice comfy bed. The forest floor wasn't that much better than a grimy shaft in a prison.

But wait – what was that?

Sakura planted her hand in Kakashi's face and pushed him away. "Did you hear that?"

He paused, but then shugged. "Just a fox," he said. "They mate this time of year."

Sakura knew what a fox's cry sounded like – somewhere between the screech of a murder victim and a dying violin – and this was not that. It had sounded like twigs snapping on the path below.

"Kakashi, there's someone on the path," she whispered.

They both still, fearing it was the hunter-nins closing in on them. Tense moments stretched by where they both strained to see through the darkness for any hint of movement as the crunch of twigs and leaves grew louder and more frequent.

Then suddenly a small shadow emerged from the trees just a few hundred yards away. Sakura squinted. Was it a man or a woman? Their gait seemed a little strange, a little too jerky, or short, or rapid… but at least they appeared to be alone.

"Just a traveler," Kakashi whispered in her ear.

Sakura agreed, but something still concerned her. It wasn't until the figure moved through a patch of moonlight that she discovered what that was.

"It's a child!" she hissed. "In the middle of the night?"

Kakashi seemed speechless when she looked at him, so decisively Sakura stood up and started down the slope towards the path. She ignored Kakashi's futile warnings to stay put.

The child heard her approach before they saw her. "Who's there?!" they demanded sharply, whirling towards the embankment.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you," Sakura said quickly. She stepped out onto the path, now close enough to see that the child was actually a young girl with the longest, fairest hair she'd ever seen. She could only have been about six or seven. "But why are you out this late? Are you lost?"

The girl sighed and stomped her foot. She seemed very bratty. "No. I am _not_ lost. I am going home. I don't need your help to get there, I don't need you to find my 'mommy', and I don't care for any sweets you may wish to offer me in order to entice me into your home."

Sakura was stumped. "Well, I…"

Kakashi stepped out onto the path behind her. "You're going to Konoha?" he asked the girl.

His appearance and the sound of his voice made the girl balk. "_You?!_" she said, gaping at him. Then she turned her gape on Sakura. "Wait – is that you, Sakura?"

"Excuse… me…?" Sakura murmured weakly.

"I didn't recognize you under all that black dirt." The girl planted her hands on her hips and looked between them. "What's going on here exactly? Oh, god… don't tell me. You're not eloping together, are you? Hell, that's the last thing I need. I leave you for a week and everyone falls to pieces. And where might I expect to find the other two brats? Naruto and Sasuke holidaying at the beach, perhaps?"

There was no mistaking it, but it was hard to believe. "Tsunade-shishou," Sakura gasped. "Shishou, what happened to you?"

"What do you think happened?" The girl snapped. "My jewel got damaged and now my age is stuck. There I was, just trying to quietly avoid some loan-sharks by pretending to be a little girl, and the next thing I know – _crack_. Do you know how hard traveling is when you're six? These tiny legs just keep getting tired and it takes three times as long to get anywhere, and it doesn't help when people keep trying to abduct you thinking you're lost and need help. I've never been so humiliated."

It _was_ her! She may have been about three feet tall, but she was all there. Sakura's eyes swam with tears and she was unable to stop herself from giving a whimper of relief and surging forward to wrap her arms around her master's tiny figure. "Shishou! Never do that again! I was so scared! I thought something terrible had happened to you and that I would never see you again!"

Tsunade was apoplectic. "Enough! Put me down, I'm not really a child! Kakashi – do something!"

But a second later and Kakashi too had joined the group hug, wrapping his arms around both a weeping Sakura and infuriated Hokage. Tsunade had to give up and just let herself be hugged. Obviously something very traumatic had happened in her absence.

Once Sakura had calmed down enough to set her teacher down, Tsunade brushed her oversized clothes down primly and gave them both a severe fish eye. "Now can one of you please tell me what the hell is going on? I've never seen you two in such a state. Are those.. are those _prison_ clothes?"

"Hokage-sama, we have a lot to tell you…" Kakashi began.

However, he was forced to stop, because at that moment the forest around them suddenly came alive with sound. Where before has been just empty, foresty space, there were now no less than fifty masked ANBU hunter-nin, all braced to use lethal force if someone so much as breathed wrong.

"Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura!" a muffled voice from one of the masks called. "You are surrounded. Give yourselves up and you will be returned to prison where you may be evaluated for execution, or else resist now and save us the paperwork."

Sakura looked desperately at Tsunade, knowing they were utterly screwed without her. Her shishou just shook her head. "Seven days... I leave you for seven days..."


End file.
